Matt Kenseth Scores Coca-Cola 600 Pole At Charlotte

Matt Kenseth the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Matt Kenseth collected his second pole of the season in Thursday night’s qualifying session for Sunday’s 56th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Kenseth wheeled his No. 20 Toyota to a top lap of 27.799 second (194.252 mph) in the third and final round, bumping his teammate Carl Edwards who briefly held the top spot.

Joey Logano took the outside pole with a lap of 28.003 seconds (192.836 mph) in the No. 22 Ford, while Edwards fell to third on the grid, clocking in at 28.016 seconds (192.733 mph). Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

Kenseth’s pole was the 15th of his Sprint Cup career and his first ever at Charlotte, topping his previous best start of second scored in October 2011.

The last time Kenseth won a pole was at Bristol back on April 19, where he led 47 laps en route to his first victory of the season.

“They asked me before qualifying if I thought I had a shot at the pole and I was like, I don’t know,” said Kenseth. “I said that I thought we already hit our quota for the year from Bristol. I wasn’t really expecting to get another one. We doubled up.”

Charlotte holds a lot of memories for Kenseth, who scored his first-career win here in the Coca-Cola 600 back in 2000, joining an exclusive club of drivers such as Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon who have had their first career victory come at Charlotte.

“It’s crazy that it’s been that long,” said Kenseth of his first win 15 years ago. “For a lot of us it’s been a special race track. For me, it certainly has been. I made my first Xfinity Series start here, first test I ever did in a big car was here and won my first Cup race here. I’ve had some good races here and had a lot of great memories. The 600 has always been my favorite event or favorite race on the circuit in a way just because it’s always been so challenging.

“Things have certainly changed over the years, but it’s always been challenging to run 600 miles and be decent in the beginning and be really good at the end when you need to be. I’ve always looked forward to this race and I always like racing at this race track.”

Kenseth led the opening round of qualifying with Kevin Harvick taking the second spot, but in Round Two it was Harvick getting the better of Kenseth, moving to the top of the leaderboard while Kenseth fell to second.

Kenseth roared back in the final round to take the pole, but Harvick wasn’t as lucky –falling to eighth in the final running order.

“We were just too tight,” said Harvick. “The Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet team worked really hard all day and that gives us a decent starting position for Sunday. It’s a long race and we will have to keep up with our adjustments to stay up front all race long.”

Logano posted his 10th top-10 start of the season and his career-best in 13 Sprint Cup starts at Charlotte. Logano has one previous Xfinity Series win here.

“It was a good effort for our team,” said Logano. “You look at where we ended in practice I wasn’t too worried about where our practice speeds were, but it wasn’t very glamorous that’s for sure.

“You want to make sure you start up front. Yes, it’s 600 miles. Yes, we want to start up front. This race is long enough to recover, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a tough place to make it happen. It’s one of the toughest places there is to pass. Having a good pit stall is gonna help that a lot.”

Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers were Brad Keselowski, David Ragan, Harvick, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex, Jr.

None of the four Hendrick Motorsports cars advanced out of the second round, with Kasey Kahne forced out of the first round with a flat left-front tire. Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon – starting in his final Coca-Cola 600 – failed to advance from the second round.

Missing the race were Jeb Burton, Mike Bliss, Travis Kvapil, Jeff Green and Brendan Gaughan.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, NC
Coca-Cola 600 Qualifying – May 21, 2015

1. 20 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Toyota 27.799 194.252
2. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 28.003 192.836
3. 19 Carl Edwards Subway Toyota 28.018 192.733
4. 16 Greg Biffle Ortho Ford 28.092 192.226
5. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 28.124 192.007
6. 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 28.142 191.884
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8. 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet 28.232 191.272
9. 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet 28.233 191.266
10. 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet 28.373 190.322
11. 3 Austin Dillon Cheerios Chevrolet 28.446 189.833
12. 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 29.124 185.414
13. 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet 28.165 191.727
14. 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 28.167 191.714
15. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet 28.171 191.686
16. 21 Ryan Blaney(i) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 28.174 191.666
17. 18 Kyle Busch Skittles Toyota 28.209 191.428
18. 24 Jeff Gordon Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet 28.220 191.354
19. 31 Ryan Newman Quicken Loans Chevrolet 28.250 191.150
20. 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 28.279 190.954
21. 43 Aric Almirola United States Air Force Ford 28.298 190.826
22. 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna/McDonald’s Chevrolet 28.332 190.597
23. 27 Paul Menard Serta/Menards Chevrolet 28.424 189.980
24. 15 Clint Bowyer Chry5hrEnrgy/SpclOprtnsWarriorFndtn Toyota 29.394 183.711
25. 95 Michael McDowell Thrivent Financial Ford 28.301 190.806
26. 9 Sam Hornish, Jr. Twisted Tea Ford 28.305 190.779
27. 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 28.332 190.597
28. 25 Chase Elliott(i) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 28.365 190.375
29. 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Fastenal Ford 28.394 190.181
30. 47 A.J. Allmendinger Scott Products Chevrolet 28.429 189.947
31. 7 Alex Bowman Culer Chevrolet 28.439 189.880
32. 40 Landon Cassill(i) Snap Fitness Chevrolet 28.444 189.847
33. 5 Kasey Kahne LiftMaster Chevrolet 28.470 189.673
34. 13 Casey Mears GEICO Military Chevrolet 28.528 189.288
35. 51 Justin Allgaier Brandt Chevrolet 28.538 189.221
36. 46 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 28.564 189.049
37. 35 Cole Whitt Speed Stick Ford Owner Points
38. 98 Josh Wise RoyalTeakCollection.com Ford Owner Points
39. 38 David Gilliland Love’s Travel Stops Ford Owner Points
40. 34 Brett Moffitt # CSX/Play It Safe Ford Owner Points
41. 23 J.J. Yeley(i) Hope for the Warriors Toyota Owner Points
42. 83 Matt DiBenedetto # Dustless Blasting Toyota Owner Points
43. 33 Alex Kennedy # HonorandRemember.org Chevrolet Owner Points