After throwing a strike with helmet last weekend at the IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol, Tony Stewart has struck out the field in qualifying for the AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
For the first time in the 2012 season, the defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion will start on the pole.
The second last car to qualify, Stewart drove an unconventional flying lap around the top-side of the 1.5-mile speedway.
“That lap is 100 percent due to (team-mate) Ryan Newman,” said Stewart.
“He walked back down and helped us before we went out and said, ‘There’s a ton of grip up there (high side of the track), you just gotta do it’.
The pole marks the first time in Stewart’s career he has one a pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway where he is a multi-time race winner with his most recent victory coming in September, 2010.
Starting alongside Stewart for Sunday night’s race will be the Sprint Cup Series points leader, Greg Biffle.
Australia’s Marcos Ambrose is well positioned, starting 10th to make it the fifth-straight weekend he will start on the front five rows.
“We laid down a decent lap there,” said Ambrose.
“It wasn’t awesome, but decent.
“This is a really tough one-and-a-half mile race track. It doesn’t feel like the traditional one-and-a-half mile because the track is so old with low grip and it’s rough. You’ve got to really manhandle the car around there. There’s no easy way to get around a lap, but I feel good about it.
“I feel good where we’re at and we’ll get after it and try to get ourselves another win.”
QUALIFYING: AdvoCare 500 | Atlanta Motor Speedway
|
POS |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
MPH |
TIME |
| 1 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Mobil 1 | 186.122 | 29.787 |
| 2 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M / Manheim Auctions | 185.648 | -0.076 |
| 3 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Wrigley’s Doublemint | 185.492 | -0.101 |
| 4 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Ford EcoBoost | 185.319 | -0.129 |
| 5 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont | 185.307 | -0.131 |
| 6 | Mark Martin | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 185.232 | -0.143 |
| 7 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | Sport Clips | 185.220 | -0.145 |
| 8 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools | 185.139 | -0.158 |
| 9 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 185.084 | -0.167 |
| 10 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | DEWALT | 185.053 | -0.172 |
| 11 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | 184.997 | -0.181 |
| 12 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Subway | 184.930 | -0.192 |
| 13 | Aric Almirola | Ford | AdvoCare | 184.874 | -0.201 |
| 14 | David Ragan | Ford | Glory Foods | 184.738 | -0.223 |
| 15 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 184.609 | -0.244 |
| 16 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | 184.566 | -0.251 |
| 17 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Army Medicine | 184.480 | -0.265 |
| 18 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Quaker State / Menards | 184.425 | -0.274 |
| 19 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 184.082 | -0.330 |
| 20 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats | 184.070 | -0.332 |
| 21 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 184.058 | -0.334 |
| 22 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 183.747 | -0.385 |
| 23 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 183.673 | -0.397 |
| 24 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Rheem | 183.643 | -0.402 |
| 25 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Kingsford | 183.509 | -0.424 |
| 26 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 183.412 | -0.440 |
| 27 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / Farm American | 183.388 | -0.444 |
| 28 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Shocks | 183.370 | -0.447 |
| 29 | David Gilliland | Ford | House / Autry | 183.364 | -0.448 |
| 30 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-hour Energy | 183.333 | -0.453 |
| 31 | David Stremme | Toyota | Inception Motorsports | 183.037 | -0.502 |
| 32 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Good Sam Club / Camping World | 182.886 | -0.527 |
| 33 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 182.759 | -0.548 |
| 34 | Jason Leffler | Toyota | Robinson-Blakeney Racing | 182.675 | -0.562 |
| 35 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | National Guard / Diet Mountain Dew | 182.627 | -0.570 |
| 36 | Scott Speed | Ford | Jordan Truck Sales | 182.549 | -0.583 |
| 37 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves | 182.380 | -0.611 |
| 38 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | Plinker Tactical | 182.189 | -0.643 |
| 39 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | North Texas Pipe | 182.141 | -0.651 |
| 40 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | MaxQworkforce.com | 182.069 | -0.663 |
| 41 | Michael McDowell | Ford | Phil Parsons Racing | 181.777 | -0.712 |
| 42 | Josh Wise* | Ford | MDS Transport | 181.390 | -0.777 |
| 43 | Stephen Leicht* | Chevrolet | Little Joes Autos.com | 181.283 | -0.795 |
| 44 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | Burger King | 181.224 | -0.805 |
| 45 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | Plinker Tactical | 180.651 | -0.902 |
| 46 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | Dr Pepper / Burger King | 180.527 | -0.923 |
| 47 | T.J. Bell | Ford | Greensmoke | 180.457 | -0.935 |
* Denotes Rookie
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