Roush Fenway Racing’s Greg Biffle will start Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 from pole position after breaking the circuit record in qualifying.
Biffle’s 27.88s lap of the 1.5 mile speedway proved 0.05s quicker than second fastest man Mark Martin.
Ryan Newman also lapped below the previous record to take third ahead of Chase contenders Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex and Matt Kenseth.
Points leader Brad Keselowski will start 20th, two places behind Australian Marcos Ambrose.
Further back in the field, Regan Smith completed his first qualifying run in Dale Earnhardt Jr’s famed #88 Hendrick Chevrolet in 26th position. The former Furniture Row Racing driver is replacing Earnhardt while the long-time fan favourite recovers from a concussion recevied in last weekend’s multi-car wreck at Talladega.
CLICK HERE for Speedcafe.com’s news story on Earnhardt’s decision to miss the Charlotte and Kansas races
Biffle currently sits ninth in the points standings with seven races to go, but says he’s not giving up on the possibility to winning his first crown.
“We’re certainly not gonna give up,” he said after qualifying. “We’re gonna try to win here Saturday night, try to win next week all we can do is be in control of our own destiny and try to win these races.
“Is it too late for us to get back in the hunt? Probably. Mathematically, it doesn’t look good, but it’s possible.”
See below for the full qualifying result
|
POS |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
SPEED |
TIME |
| 1 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M / IDG | 193.708 | 27.877 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 193.361 | 27.927 |
| 3 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Quicken Loans | 193.251 | 27.943 |
| 4 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-Hour Energy Benefiting Avon Foundation | 193.043 | 27.973 |
| 5 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | MyLowe’s | 192.995 | 27.980 |
| 6 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 192.919 | 27.991 |
| 7 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Best Buy | 192.885 | 27.996 |
| 8 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M’s | 192.850 | 28.001 |
| 9 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Ground | 192.802 | 28.008 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Time Warner Cable | 192.644 | 28.031 |
| 11 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Jimmy Johns | 192.637 | 28.032 |
| 12 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 192.561 | 28.043 |
| 13 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 192.212 | 28.094 |
| 14 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 191.666 | 28.174 |
| 15 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Scott Products | 191.605 | 28.183 |
| 16 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Good Sam Club / Camping World | 191.293 | 28.229 |
| 17 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Smithfield | 191.286 | 28.230 |
| 18 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Stanley | 191.279 | 28.231 |
| 19 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Kellogg’s | 191.245 | 28.236 |
| 20 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 191.232 | 28.238 |
| 21 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / Farm American | 191.225 | 28.239 |
| 22 | Scott Speed | Ford | B&D Electrical | 190.691 | 28.318 |
| 23 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target / Kellogg’s | 190.691 | 28.318 |
| 24 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Menards / Pittsburgh Paints | 190.617 | 28.329 |
| 25 | David Ragan | Ford | Glory Foods | 190.382 | 28.364 |
| 26 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | AMP Energy / National Guard | 190.181 | 28.394 |
| 27 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | Plinker Tactical | 190.027 | 28.417 |
| 28 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 190.027 | 28.417 |
| 29 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | Best Buy | 189.987 | 28.423 |
| 30 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | McDonald’s | 189.867 | 28.441 |
| 31 | David Stremme | Toyota | Inception Motorsports | 189.687 | 28.468 |
| 32 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Office Depot | 189.587 | 28.483 |
| 33 | Michael McDowell | Ford | K-Love / Curb Records | 189.587 | 28.483 |
| 34 | David Reutimann | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 189.520 | 28.493 |
| 35 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | MaxQworkforce.com | 189.341 | 28.520 |
| 36 | David Gilliland | Ford | Glory Foods | 189.255 | 28.533 |
| 37 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 189.168 | 28.546 |
| 38 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction | 189.142 | 28.550 |
| 39 | Reed Sorenson | Toyota | Aquaria USA | 189.102 | 28.556 |
| 40 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM / FM Energy | 188.937 | 28.581 |
| 41 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 188.469 | 28.652 |
| 42 | Timmy Hill | Ford | U.S. Chrome | 188.225 | 28.689 |
| 43 | Josh Wise | Ford | MDS Transport | 187.123 | 28.858 |
| 44 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 186.735 | 28.918 |
| 45 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 186.322 | 28.982 |
| 46 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | North Texas Pipe | 184.988 | 29.191 |
| 47 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | Little Joes Autos.com | 183.517 | 29.425 |
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