Kasey Kahne signs the wall after qualifying for the pole position in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Talladega Superspeedway. Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
A move to Hendrick Motorsports equipment has made all the difference in the world where Kasey Kahne and Talladega are concerned.
In his second trip to Talladega Superspeedway in the No. 5 Chevrolet, Kahne scored his first pole at the 2.66-mile restrictor-plate track. That followed a previous best starting position of fifth for Talladega’s event this past spring.
In Saturday’s time trials, Kahne toured Talladega in 50.017 seconds (191.455 mph) to edge Ryan Newman (191.145 mph) for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 by .081 seconds.
The Coors Light pole award was Kahne’s third of the season and the 25th of his career. Clint Bowyer (191.119 mph) qualified third, followed by defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart (190.993 mph) and Greg Biffle (190.955 mph), as Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers claimed four of the top five starting positions (the exception being Newman).
“They (Hendrick) just put a big emphasis on these types of tracks and this type of racing,” said Kahne, who is tied for fifth in the Cup standings, 32 points behind leader Brad Keselowski. “I’ve never been anywhere before where they do that.
“As far as the engine goes, the body, the car — everything they can work on they do. That makes all of our cars look really good when it comes to qualifying . . . With all the emphasis that they put on this track, it feels really good to drive that car.”
As Kahne well knows, a good starting spot at Talladega doesn’t guarantee a strong finish.
“It means I’m going to start first — that’s it,” Kahne said. “I’ll try to lead the first lap and get that extra bonus point (for leading a lap). If we’re up there, we might as well try to stay there and lead the most laps and get another point. . . .
“I think we really need to race, and race hard. We’re a long way back right now. If we can’t make points up at a track like this, we’re probably not going to make those points up.”
Keselowski will start 22nd in the No. 2 Dodge, with five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, currently second in the standings, taking the green flag in 17th.
Keselowski didn’t appear particularly concerned about his mid-pack starting spot.
“I think we’ve proven that the only lap that matters is the last one,” said Keselowski, who won the May 6 race at Talladega. We have a good (car). You have to stay out of trouble, be solid on pit road and put yourself in position to make a run at the end. We’ll see how it plays out.”
Newman said he ran only five laps of practice in two sessions combined on Friday and didn’t know what to expect during qualifying. Bowyer, on the other hand, was stunned by his third-place effort, a performance that will change his strategy for the fourth race in the Chase.
“I am blown-away shocked that we’re in the top three,” said Bowyer, who is fourth in the series standings, 25 points behind Keselowski. “Very, very proud of (crew chief Brian) Pattie and everybody on our (team).
“We haven’t been qualifying very good on these restrictor-plate tracks, and today it caught me off guard. My whole plan for the weekend. . . . I kind of figured we were going to qualify poorly and ride around in the back. We’re in the front. I’m going to try to stay there.”
Other Chase drivers qualified as follows: Jeff Gordon, sixth; Martin Truex Jr., ninth; Dale Earnhardt Jr., 12th; Matt Kenseth, 15th; Kevin Harvick, 21st and Denny Hamlin 23rd.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, AL
Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 Qualifying – Oct. 6, 2012
1 5 Kasey Kahne 50.017 191.455
2 39 Ryan Newman 50.098 191.145
3 15 Clint Bowyer 50.105 191.119
4 14 Tony Stewart 50.138 190.993
5 16 Greg Biffle 50.148 190.955
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7 99 Carl Edwards 50.193 190.784
8 21 Trevor Bayne 50.208 190.727
9 56 Martin Truex Jr. 50.225 190.662
10 22 Sam Hornish Jr. 50.234 190.628
11 55 Michael Waltrip 50.277 190.465
12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 50.287 190.427
13 18 Kyle Busch 50.289 190.419
14 20 Joey Logano 50.296 190.393
15 17 Matt Kenseth 50.302 190.370
16 27 Paul Menard 50.312 190.332
17 48 Jimmie Johnson 50.321 190.298
18 43 Aric Almirola 50.321 190.298
19 13 Casey Mears 50.353 190.177
20 9 Marcos Ambrose 50.355 190.170
21 29 Kevin Harvick 50.370 190.113
22 2 Brad Keselowski 50.459 189.778
23 11 Denny Hamlin 50.467 189.748
24 1 Jamie McMurray 50.469 189.740
25 34 David Ragan 50.502 189.616
26 31 Jeff Burton 50.519 189.552
27 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 50.565 189.380
28 78 Regan Smith 50.582 189.316
29 51 Kurt Busch 50.660 189.025
30 30 David Stremme 50.681 188.947
31 32 Terry Labonte 50.722 188.794
32 38 David Gilliland 50.740 188.727
33 26 Josh Wise 50.761 188.649
34 98 Michael McDowell 50.764 188.638
35 97 Timmy Hill 50.848 188.326
36 93 Travis Kvapil 50.856 188.296
37 87 Joe Nemechek 50.936 188.001
38 83 Landon Cassill 50.940 187.986
39 36 Dave Blaney 51.083 187.460
40 47 Bobby Labonte 51.211 186.991
41 10 David Reutimann 51.268 186.783
42 33 Cole Whitt 51.404 186.289
43 23 Robert Richardson Jr. 51.500 185.942
Did Not Qualify: None
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