Keen to haul-in NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase leader Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has started his weekend at Dover in the right note with pole position for the AAA 400.
Earnhardt posted a track-record qualifying speed of 260.471km/h (161.849 mph) on the concrete one-mile track.
It is Earnhardt’s second pole of the year and despite sitting in 11th place in the points standings feels he has a good car this weekend at ‘The Monster Mile’.
“The car has been excellent all day long,” Earnhardt said. “The car has been a whole lot of fun to drive.
“If we just follow our instinct and keep up with the racetrack as it’s changing throughout the weekend, we’ve got a good shot at it.”
The Hendrick Motorsports driver will need to be on his game as Kenseth will start alongside.
The top four drivers in qualifying all are in the Chase with Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards on Row 2. Other Chase drivers starting spots: Joey Logano (11th), Kevin Harvick (12th), Kyle Busch (14th), Jeff Gordon (16th), Greg Biffle (19th), Kasey Kahne (20th) and Clint Bowyer (23rd).
Australia’s Marcos Ambrose will start from 24th after a small but critical weather change occurred during his run.
“It’s crazy that we get a bunch of sun after it was pretty cloudy all session,” said Ambrose. “We felt pretty good going into the session, but we were just loose off the turns. The guys that qualified around us will start near us too.
“We were all fast in practice, but the track just changed a lot on us. Still, our STANLEY Ford feels good in race trim and we are better here. We like the car for Sunday’s race.”
QUALIFYING: AAA 400 – Dover International Speedway
|
POS |
driver |
Car # |
Make |
Sponsor |
MPH |
Best Time |
Behind |
|
1 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr | 88 | Chevrolet | National Guard | 161.849 | 22.243 | Leader |
|
2 |
Matt Kenseth | 20 | Toyota | No. 20 Home Depot “Let’s Do This” Toyota | 161.805 | 22.249 | –0.006 |
|
3 |
Ryan Newman | 39 | Chevrolet | State Water Heaters | 161.740 | 22.258 | –0.015 |
|
4 |
Carl Edwards | 99 | Ford | Fastenal | 161.609 | 22.276 | –0.033 |
|
5 |
Aric Almirola | 43 | Ford | Smithfield | 161.609 | 22.276 | –0.033 |
|
6 |
Brad Keselowski | 2 | Ford | Miller Lite | 161.594 | 22.278 | –0.035 |
|
7 |
Jamie McMurray | 1 | Chevrolet | LiftMaster | 161.493 | 22.292 | –0.049 |
|
8 |
Jimmie Johnson | 48 | Chevrolet | Lowe’s / Kolbalt Tools | 161.341 | 22.313 | –0.070 |
|
9 |
Kurt Busch | 78 | Chevrolet | Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet | 161.326 | 22.315 | –0.072 |
|
10 |
Martin Truex Jr | 56 | Toyota | NAPA Shocks | 161.204 | 22.332 | –0.089 |
|
11 |
Joey Logano | 22 | Ford | Shell Pennzoil | 161.023 | 22.357 | –0.114 |
|
12 |
Kevin Harvick | 29 | Chevrolet | Budweiser | 160.800 | 22.388 | –0.145 |
|
13 |
Juan Pablo Montoya | 42 | Chevrolet | Target | 160.736 | 22.397 | –0.154 |
|
14 |
Kyle Busch | 18 | Toyota | Interstate Batteries | 160.721 | 22.399 | –0.156 |
|
15 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 17 | Ford | FORD ECO BOOST | 160.714 | 22.400 | –0.157 |
|
16 |
Jeff Gordon | 24 | Chevrolet | Axalta | 160.664 | 22.407 | –0.164 |
|
17 |
AJ Allmendinger | 47 | Toyota | House-Autry | 160.650 | 22.409 | –0.166 |
|
18 |
Denny Hamlin | 11 | Toyota | FedEx Freight | 160.557 | 22.422 | –0.179 |
|
19 |
Greg Biffle | 16 | Ford | Filtrete | 160.542 | 22.424 | –0.181 |
|
20 |
Kasey Kahne | 5 | Chevrolet | Farmers Insurance | 160.371 | 22.448 | –0.205 |
|
21 |
Paul Menard | 27 | Chevrolet | Menards / CertainTeed | 160.249 | 22.465 | –0.222 |
|
22 |
Brian Vickers | 55 | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 160.100 | 22.486 | –0.243 |
|
23 |
Clint Bowyer | 15 | Toyota | Raspberry 5-Hour Energy benefiting Living Beyond Breast Cancer | 159.851 | 22.521 | –0.278 |
|
24 |
Marcos Ambrose | 9 | Ford | Stanley | 159.645 | 22.550 | –0.307 |
|
25 |
Jeff Burton | 31 | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 158.779 | 22.673 | –0.430 |
|
26 |
Casey Mears | 13 | Ford | No. 13 GEICO Ford Fusion | 158.611 | 22.697 | –0.454 |
|
27 |
David Ragan | 34 | Ford | Taco Bell | 158.451 | 22.720 | –0.477 |
|
28 |
David Gilliland | 38 | Ford | Long John Silver’s | 158.263 | 22.747 | –0.504 |
|
29 |
Mark Martin | 14 | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Bass Pro Shops | 157.992 | 22.786 | –0.543 |
|
30 |
Travis Kvapil | 93 | Toyota | Burger King-Dr. Pepper | 157.929 | 22.795 | –0.552 |
|
31 |
Danica Patrick | 10 | Chevrolet | GoDaddy | 157.563 | 22.848 | –0.605 |
|
32 |
J.J. Yeley | 36 | Chevrolet | Drive Sober Arrive Alive | 157.549 | 22.850 | –0.607 |
|
33 |
Cole Whitt | 30 | Toyota | Swan Energy | 157.336 | 22.881 | –0.638 |
|
34 |
Michael McDowell | 98 | Ford | Phil Parsons Racing | 156.883 | 22.947 | –0.704 |
|
35 |
Reed Sorenson | 95 | Ford | Leavine Family Racing | 156.692 | 22.975 | –0.732 |
|
36 |
Ryan Truex | 51 | Chevrolet | Shooters Sporting Center | 156.644 | 22.982 | –0.739 |
|
37 |
Landon Cassill | 33 | Chevrolet | Little Joe’s Autos.com | 156.495 | 23.004 | –0.761 |
|
38 |
Josh Wise | 35 | Ford | MDS Transport | 156.203 | 23.047 | –0.804 |
|
39 |
David Reutimann | 83 | Toyota | Burger King-Dr. Pepper | 155.595 | 23.137 | –0.894 |
|
40 |
Dave Blaney | 7 | Chevrolet | TBA | 155.501 | 23.151 | –0.908 |
|
41 |
Joe Nemechek | 87 | Toyota | TBA | 154.832 | 23.251 | –1.008 |
|
42 |
Timmy Hill | 32 | Ford | U.S. Chrome | 154.526 | 23.297 | –1.054 |
|
43 |
Tony Raines | 40 | Chevrolet | TBA | 153.551 | 23.445 | –1.202 |
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