Carl Edwards will start from pole in the second race of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
This is Edwards’ third pole in the last four races at New Hampshire and his sixth of 2016.
Championship leader Martin Truex Jr. will share the front row in another Toyota.
“They just give me fast race cars,” said Edwards.
“We worked in qualifying trim most of our first practice this weekend and now we have to translate that speed to a good race set-up for Sunday. We’d like to come out of here with the trophy and make our way to the next round of the Chase.”
The main talking point was the inspection process by officials as qualifying was approaching with 10 cars not making it through inspection before qualifying began. Many failed the first pass through in what was described by NASCAR officials as “attempts to push the limits” of the rules. In the end all cars passed inspection and turned in qualifying laps.
Among the drivers delayed were Chase drivers Kevin Harvick (P19), Austin Dillon (P29) and Tony Stewart (P22).
Others delayed included Danica Patrick (P24), AJ Allmendinger (P17), Regan Smith (P30), Matt DiBenedetto (P33), Kasey Kahne (P9), Greg Biffle (P32) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (P21).
Everything was able to get on the track before the first round ended, but Dillon and fellow Chase driver Chris Buescher (P28) did not advance past the first round.
The microscope has been placed on all aspects of the inspection process after last week both race winner Truex and Jimmie Johnson both had what NASCAR called minor failures following post-race inspection.
QUALIFYING: Bad Boy Off Road 300 – New Hampshire Speedway
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | MPH | TIME | GAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Carl Edwards |  |
COMCAST BUSINESS | 135.453 | 28.119 | Leader |
| 2 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | |
Furniture Row / Denver Mattress | 135.212 | 28.169 | –0.050 |
| 3 | 31 | Ryan Newman |  |
Caterpillar | 134.896 | 28.235 | –0.116 |
| 4 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | |
Lowe’s | 134.858 | 28.243 | –0.124 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | |
FedEx Freight | 134.796 | 28.256 | –0.137 |
| 6 | 42 | Kyle Larson | |
Target | 134.682 | 28.280 | –0.161 |
| 7 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | |
McDonald’s | 134.477 | 28.323 | –0.204 |
| 8 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | |
Dollar General | 134.363 | 28.347 | –0.228 |
| 9 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | |
Great Clips | 134.221 | 28.377 | –0.258 |
| 10 | 24 | Chase Elliott | |
NAPA Auto Parts | 133.901 | 28.445 | –0.326 |
| 11 | 2 | Brad Keselowski |  |
Miller Lite | 133.694 | 28.489 | –0.370 |
| 12 | 18 | Kyle Busch | |
M&M’s Core | 133.445 | 28.542 | –0.423 |
| 13 | 41 | Kurt Busch | |
Monster Energy / Haas Automation Chevrolet SS | 134.359 | 28.348 | –0.229 |
| 14 | 27 | Paul Menard | |
Libman / Menards | 134.354 | 28.349 | –0.230 |
| 15 | 22 | Joey Logano | |
Shell Pennzoil | 134.184 | 28.385 | –0.266 |
| 16 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | |
Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 134.108 | 28.401 | –0.282 |
| 17 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | |
Bush’s Chili Beans | 134.032 | 28.417 | –0.298 |
| 18 | 88 | Alex Bowman | |
Nationwide | 133.750 | 28.477 | –0.358 |
| 19 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | |
ditech Chevrolet SS | 133.717 | 28.484 | –0.365 |
| 20 | 95 | Michael McDowell | |
Patina Rat Rod Chevrolet | 133.133 | 28.609 | –0.490 |
| 21 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | |
Fastenal Ford Fusion | 133.031 | 28.631 | –0.512 |
| 22 | 14 | Tony Stewart | |
Code 3 Assoc. / Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS | 132.980 | 28.642 | –0.523 |
| 23 | 23 | David Ragan | |
Dr. Pepper | 132.776 | 28.686 | –0.567 |
| 24 | 10 | Danica Patrick | |
Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS | 131.815 | 28.895 | –0.776 |
| 25 | 44 | Brian Scott | |
Shaw’s Ford | 132.966 | 28.645 | –0.526 |
| 26 | 43 | Aric Almirola | |
Smithfield | 132.887 | 28.662 | –0.543 |
| 27 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | |
Advocare Ford Fusion | 132.688 | 28.705 | –0.586 |
| 28 | 34 | Chris Buescher | |
Love’s Travel Stops | 132.618 | 28.720 | –0.601 |
| 29 | 3 | Austin Dillon | |
Pumpkin Spice Cheerios | 132.595 | 28.725 | –0.606 |
| 30 | 7 | Regan Smith | |
Nikko RC / Toy State Chevrolet | 132.586 | 28.727 | –0.608 |
| 31 | 13 | Casey Mears | |
GEICO | 132.485 | 28.749 | –0.630 |
| 32 | 16 | Greg Biffle | |
Performance Plus Motor Oil | 132.177 | 28.816 | –0.697 |
| 33 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | |
NASCAR Heat Evolution | 131.952 | 28.865 | –0.746 |
| 34 | 38 | Landon Cassill | |
The Pete Store | 131.624 | 28.937 | –0.818 |
| 35 | 46 | Michael Annett | |
Pilot Flying J | 131.528 | 28.958 | –0.839 |
| 36 | 98 | Cole Whitt | |
Standard Plumbing Supply | 131.510 | 28.962 | –0.843 |
| 37 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | |
5-Hour Energy | 131.031 | 29.068 | –0.949 |
| 38 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | |
VYDOX Plus | 130.693 | 29.143 | –1.024 |
| 39 | 30 | Josh Wise | |
Curtis Key Plumbing | 129.503 | 29.411 | –1.292 |
| 40 | 32 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | |
Can – Am | 127.701 | 29.826 | –1.707 |
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