AJ Allmendinger has taken pole for this weekend’s STP 400 at Kansas Speedway, posting a lap at 283.233 km/h (30.683 seconds).
In winning the second Coors Light pole award of his career, his first since 2010 at Phoenix and his first since joining Penske Racing this season, Allmendinger edged Kevin Harvick (282.837 km/h) by .043 seconds at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway.
Joey Logano, the first driver to make a qualifying run, was third fastest at 282.800 km/h but must start from the rear on Sunday because of an engine change during Friday’s practice session. Denny Hamlin, Logano’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, claimed the fourth starting spot at 282.709 km/h, with Mark Martin (282.414 km/h) posting the fifth-fastest lap.
After finishing second at Martinsville to Ryan Newman in the sixth Cup race of the season, Allmendinger was gratified to continue the momentum for his No. 22 Penske Racing team.
“More than anything, I put so much pressure on my shoulders to go out there and perform,” Allmendinger said.
“They [his Penske team] are used to winning, running up front, getting poles. It’s good just to build momentum.
“So, hopefully, we have a solid 400 miles. It’s good, but we know the bigger picture’s on Sunday, and I’m happy to be part of the team.”
A tough session for the Fords, Sprint Cup points leader Greg Biffle qualified 17th at 281.162 km/h, the fastest of all the Blue Oval drivers, while Australia’s Marcos will start 28th.
“It’s disappointing,” said Ambrose.
“We’ve been struggling since we got here. We’ve been hitting the track with the splitter since we got here and we’re still hitting the track.
“We’re trying hard to get a good race package in, but we’ll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out what we’ve got.”
Tim Andrews, Jeff Green and Tony Raines failed to qualify for the 43-car field.
RACE LINEUP
STP 400 | Kansas Speedway – Race 8 of 36
|
POS |
CAR |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
SPEED |
TIME |
BEHIND |
| 1 | 22 | AJ Allmendinger | Dodge | AAA | 175.993 | 30.683 | Leader |
| 2 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Rheem | 175.747 | 30.726 | -0.043 |
| 3 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 175.724 | 30.730 | -0.047 |
| 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Ground | 175.667 | 30.740 | -0.057 |
| 5 | 55 | Mark Martin | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 175.484 | 30.772 | -0.089 |
| 6 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 175.444 | 30.779 | -0.096 |
| 7 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Diet Mountain Dew / National Guard | 175.313 | 30.802 | -0.119 |
| 8 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-hour Energy | 175.302 | 30.804 | -0.121 |
| 9 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Farmers Insurance | 175.092 | 30.841 | -0.158 |
| 10 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | SKF | 175.086 | 30.842 | -0.159 |
| 11 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 175.063 | 30.846 | -0.163 |
| 12 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 174.927 | 30.870 | -0.187 |
| 13 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Haas Automation | 174.887 | 30.877 | -0.194 |
| 14 | 51 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction Services | 174.876 | 30.879 | -0.196 |
| 15 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s “Chevrolet Mountain Green” | 174.803 | 30.892 | -0.209 |
| 16 | 10 | David Reutimann | Chevrolet | Accell Construction | 174.803 | 30.892 | -0.209 |
| 17 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M Novec 1230 | 174.706 | 30.909 | -0.226 |
| 18 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Ford EcoBoost | 174.486 | 30.948 | -0.265 |
| 19 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Zecol / Menards | 174.323 | 30.977 | -0.294 |
| 20 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 174.261 | 30.988 | -0.305 |
| 21 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 174.244 | 30.991 | -0.308 |
| 22 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 174.171 | 31.004 | -0.321 |
| 23 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Mobil 1 | 174.143 | 31.009 | -0.326 |
| 24 | 30 | David Stremme | Toyota | Inception Motorsports | 174.031 | 31.029 | -0.346 |
| 25 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M’s | 174.020 | 31.031 | -0.348 |
| 26 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | STP | 174.003 | 31.034 | -0.351 |
| 27 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | Barrett-Jackson | 173.947 | 31.044 | -0.361 |
| 28 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Dewalt | 173.863 | 31.059 | -0.376 |
| 29 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / Farm American | 173.756 | 31.078 | -0.395 |
| 30 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Reese Towpower / Highland | 173.745 | 31.080 | -0.397 |
| 31 | 249 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | JPO Absorbents | 173.516 | 31.121 | -0.438 |
| 32 | 83 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | BK Strawberry Banana Smoothie / Dr Pepper | 173.388 | 31.144 | -0.461 |
| 33 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 173.383 | 31.145 | -0.462 |
| 34 | 23 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | North Texas Pipe | 173.249 | 31.169 | -0.486 |
| 35 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | BK Tropical Mango Smoothie / Dr Pepper | 173.221 | 31.174 | -0.491 |
| 36 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | McDonald’s | 173.182 | 31.181 | -0.498 |
| 37 | 98 | Michael McDowell | Ford | Curb Records | 173.155 | 31.186 | -0.503 |
| 38 | 26 | Josh Wise* | Ford | Morristown Driver’s Service | 172.756 | 31.258 | -0.575 |
| 39 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 172.507 | 31.303 | -0.620 |
| 40 | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 171.986 | 31.398 | -0.715 |
| 41 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AMFMEnergy.com / Pellet & Wood Stoves | 171.625 | 31.464 | -0.781 |
| 42 | 32 | Reed Sorenson+ | Ford | FAS Lane Racing | 170.057 | 31.754 | -1.071 |
| 43 | 119 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | Humphrey Smith Racing | 171.396 | 31.506 | -0.823 |
|
Did Not Qualify |
|||||||
| 44 | 179 | Tim Andrews | Ford | BBI Waste Industries / Bestway Disposal | 170.989 | 31.581 | -0.898 |
| 45 | 33 | Jeff Green | Chevrolet | Little Joe’s Autos | 169.769 | 31.808 | -1.125 |
| 46 | 74 | Tony Raines | Chevrolet | Turn One Racing | 169.444 | 31.869 | -1.186 |
+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie
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