Matt Kenseth scored the pole for the AAA Texas 500, but it was Tony Stewart’s 200 mile per hour lap that grabbed the headlines.
Kenseth powered his Toyota to a 199.299 mph (320.741km/h) lap in the final round of qualifying for the eighth of 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
It’s his second pole of the season, 13th of his Sprint Cup career and first on the 1.5-mile track in the heart of the Lone Star State.
”That was probably the right time for us to go,” said Kenseth about the timing of his run in the final segment.
”I don’t know how much difference it made or if it made any difference, but it seemed like a good time.”
Another one of the eight championship contenders, Jeff Gordon, was second-fastest. His speed was just one-thousandth of a second slower than Kenseth’s fast time.
Jimmie Johnson was third-fastest, followed by Stewart-Haas Racing stablemates Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick rounding out the top five.
The early evening qualifying session featured fast speeds, including the fastest official laps in the sport’s history on a 1.5-mile track. Tony Stewart led the charge in the second of three qualifying segments with a stunning 200.111 mph (322.047km/h) lap, just under the 27-second mark.
”To be able to say we’re the first guy on a mile a half to run 200, that’s pretty cool I think,” said Stewart
”Of course we were trying for the pole, but I missed the corner a little bit.”
The lap was significantly faster than the track record of 198.282 mph (319.104km/h) that Harvick registered in the first leg of knockout qualifying at the Fort Worth track in April.
Making his third last start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series before returning to Australia, Marcos Ambrose will start from 16th.
“These are fast lap times and you really need a perfect lap,” said Ambrose.
“We were really consistent. We were 17th in the first round and ended up 16th. The car has good speed. We lost some grip, but the DeWalt Ford isn’t bad.”
VIDEO: Kenseth speaks after qualifying
QUALIFYING: AAA Texas 500 – Texas Motor Speedway
| POS. | CAR | DRIVER | MANUFACTURER | SPONSOR | MPH | BEST TIME | BEHIND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | Matt Kenseth |  |
Dollar General | 199.299 | 27.095 | Leader |
| 2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon |  |
Drive to End Hunger | 199.291 | 27.096 | –0.001 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | |
Lowe’s Red Vest | 198.983 | 27.138 | –0.043 |
| 4 | 41 | Kurt Busch | |
Haas Automation | 198.910 | 27.148 | –0.053 |
| 5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | |
Budweiser | 198.836 | 27.158 | –0.063 |
| 6 | 14 | Tony Stewart | |
Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1 | 198.508 | 27.203 | –0.108 |
| 7 | 31 | Ryan Newman | |
Caterpillar | 198.500 | 27.204 | –0.109 |
| 8 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | |
Furniture Row | 198.398 | 27.218 | –0.123 |
| 9 | 18 | Kyle Busch | |
M&M’s | 198.333 | 27.227 | –0.132 |
| 10 | 22 | Joey Logano |  |
AAA Insurance | 198.071 | 27.263 | –0.168 |
| 11 | 99 | Carl Edwards | |
Aflac | 198.042 | 27.267 | –0.172 |
| 12 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | |
Diet Mountain Dew | 197.744 | 27.308 | –0.213 |
| 13 | 55 | Brian Vickers | |
Aaron’s Dream Machine | 198.646 | 27.184 | –0.089 |
| 14 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | |
Great Clips | 198.632 | 27.186 | –0.091 |
| 15 | 27 | Paul Menard | |
Richmond/Menards | 198.515 | 27.202 | –0.107 |
| 16 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | |
DeWalt | 198.493 | 27.205 | –0.110 |
| 17 | 42 | Kyle Larson | |
Target | 198.354 | 27.224 | –0.129 |
| 18 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | |
EcoPower Oil Fusion | 198.311 | 27.230 | –0.135 |
| 19 | 16 | Greg Biffle | |
Ortho Fire Ant Killer Fusion | 198.129 | 27.255 | –0.160 |
| 20 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | |
FedEx Office | 197.773 | 27.304 | –0.209 |
| 21 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | |
McDonald’s | 197.751 | 27.307 | –0.212 |
| 22 | 43 | Aric Almirola | |
Farmland | 197.477 | 27.345 | –0.250 |
| 23 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | |
Clorox | 197.087 | 27.399 | –0.304 |
| 24 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | |
5-Hour Energy | 196.707 | 27.452 | –0.357 |
| 25 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | |
Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 197.571 | 27.332 | –0.237 |
| 26 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | |
Miller Lite | 197.181 | 27.386 | –0.291 |
| 27 | 10 | Danica Patrick | |
GoDaddy | 196.822 | 27.436 | –0.341 |
| 28 | 95 | Michael McDowell | |
Tommy Williams Drywall | 196.685 | 27.455 | –0.360 |
| 29 | 3 | Austin Dillon | |
Dow Energy & Water | 196.635 | 27.462 | –0.367 |
| 30 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | |
Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau | 196.385 | 27.497 | –0.402 |
| 31 | 38 | David Gilliland | |
Love’s Travel Stops | 196.364 | 27.500 | –0.405 |
| 32 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | |
Accell Construction | 195.986 | 27.553 | –0.458 |
| 33 | 7 | Michael Annett | |
Cypress HQ Chevrolet | 195.751 | 27.586 | –0.491 |
| 34 | 40 | Landon Cassill | |
TBA | 195.744 | 27.587 | –0.492 |
| 35 | 23 | Alex Bowman | |
Dr. Pepper | 195.659 | 27.599 | –0.504 |
| 36 | 98 | Josh Wise | |
Provident Metals | 195.503 | 27.621 | –0.526 |
| 37 | 34 | David Ragan | |
Dockside Logistics | 195.447 | 27.629 | –0.534 |
| 38 | 13 | Casey Mears | |
No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS | 195.390 | 27.637 | –0.542 |
| 39 | 83 | J.J. Yeley | |
Zak Products | 194.098 | 27.821 | –0.726 |
| 40 | 26 | Cole Whitt | |
Speed Stick GEAR | 192.871 | 27.998 | –0.903 |
| 41 | 66 | Brett Moffitt | |
Vydox | 192.768 | 28.013 | –0.918 |
| 42 | 33 | Timmy Hill | |
Little Joe’s Autos Chevrolet | 192.075 | 28.114 | –1.019 |
| 43 | 32 | Joey Gase | |
24/7 E-Cigs | 189.633 | 28.476 | –1.381 |
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