Michael Waltrip Racing’s veteran driver Mark Martin will start Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race from pole position.
Martin lapped the two-mile venue at an average of 199.71mph to be more than a full mph (0.20s) faster than Roush Fenway’s Carl Edwards.
Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth will share the second row, while Kasey Kahne, Trevor Bayne, Martin Truex Jr, Marcos Ambrose, Landon Cassill and Paul Menard complete the top 10.
Ambrose scored pole for Michigan’s June race with a 203.24mph average lap, and rates the circuit as his best chance to propel himself into Chase contention with victory.
Ambrose’s RPM team-mate Aric Almirola failed to set a time in qualifying after finding the wall on his lap.
A more commendable performance was put in by Parker Kligerman, who recorded the 17th quickest time while substituting for Sam Hornish. The latter had elected to take part in qualifying for the Nationwide race at Montreal, where he will start second.
Local hero Alex Tagliani will start the Montreal race from pole position, with fellow former open-wheel drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Danica Patrick third and fourth respectively.
Australian Owen Kelly put Kyle Busch’s Toyota fifth on the grid in the car-owner’s absence. Kelly had been fourth and 12th fastest in the two earlier practice sessions, and could race the car if Busch’s travel plans back from Michigan do not run to schedule.
See below for the full Michigan qualifying result
|
POS |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
SPEED |
TIME |
BEHIND |
| 1 | Mark Martin | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 199.706 | 36.053 | Leader |
| 2 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Geek Squad | 198.626 | 36.249 | -0.196 |
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s | 198.440 | 36.283 | -0.230 |
| 4 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Fifth Third Bank | 198.183 | 36.330 | -0.277 |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Farmers Insurance | 197.878 | 36.386 | -0.333 |
| 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane | 197.781 | 36.404 | -0.351 |
| 7 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 197.650 | 36.428 | -0.375 |
| 8 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Stanley | 197.493 | 36.457 | -0.404 |
| 9 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 197.433 | 36.468 | -0.415 |
| 10 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Menards / Pittsburgh Paints | 197.163 | 36.518 | -0.465 |
| 11 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger / AARP | 197.115 | 36.527 | -0.474 |
| 12 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-hour Energy | 197.012 | 36.546 | -0.493 |
| 13 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M | 196.893 | 36.568 | -0.515 |
| 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Office Depot | 196.877 | 36.571 | -0.518 |
| 15 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Wix Filters | 196.732 | 36.598 | -0.545 |
| 16 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 196.501 | 36.641 | -0.588 |
| 17 | Parker Kligerman | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 196.249 | 36.688 | -0.635 |
| 18 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / Farm American | 196.217 | 36.694 | -0.641 |
| 19 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 196.180 | 36.701 | -0.648 |
| 20 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Jimmy Johns | 196.052 | 36.725 | -0.672 |
| 21 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Office | 195.956 | 36.743 | -0.690 |
| 22 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | National Guard / Diet Mountain Dew | 195.822 | 36.768 | -0.715 |
| 23 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Interstate Batteries | 193.299 | 37.248 | -1.195 |
| 24 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Mercury | 193.268 | 37.254 | -1.201 |
| 25 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 193.138 | 37.279 | -1.226 |
| 26 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | 192.988 | 37.308 | -1.255 |
| 27 | Reed Sorenson | Ford | Plinker Tactical | 192.709 | 37.362 | -1.309 |
| 28 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Clorox | 192.596 | 37.384 | -1.331 |
| 29 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 192.560 | 37.391 | -1.338 |
| 30 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 192.539 | 37.395 | -1.342 |
| 31 | David Stremme | Toyota | Inception Motorsports | 192.359 | 37.430 | -1.377 |
| 32 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Wheaties | 192.282 | 37.445 | -1.392 |
| 33 | Jason Leffler | Ford | Plinker Tactical | 192.205 | 37.460 | -1.407 |
| 34 | Josh Wise* | Ford | MDS Transport | 192.179 | 37.465 | -1.412 |
| 35 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves | 192.118 | 37.477 | -1.424 |
| 36 | David Gilliland | Ford | Taco Bell | 191.790 | 37.541 | -1.488 |
| 37 | David Ragan | Ford | Long John Silver’s | 191.724 | 37.554 | -1.501 |
| 38 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | North Texas Pipe | 189.943 | 37.906 | -1.853 |
| 39 | David Reutimann | Chevrolet | TMone.com | 189.036 | 38.088 | -2.035 |
| 40 | T.J. Bell+ | Ford | Southern Pride Trucking | 185.118 | 38.894 | -2.841 |
| 41 | Aric Almirola+ | Ford | Eckrich | – | – | – |
| 42 | Dave Blaney+ | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | – | – | – |
| 43 | Mike Skinner | Ford | Phil Parsons Racing | 189.939 | 37.907 | -1.854 |
| 44 | Stephen Leicht* | Chevrolet | Little Joes Autos.com | 189.444 | 38.006 | -1.953 |
| 45 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | Max Q Motorsports | 188.157 | 38.266 | -2.213 |
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