CONCORD, N.C. – Paul Menard will start on the pole for Friday’s Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage (Oct. 14) after laying down a qualifying time of 29.079 seconds (185.701 mph). Menard, who went out last in the qualifying session by virtue of the fastest time in Thursday’s practice sessions, beat Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s fast time of 29.118 (185.452 mph) on his first lap to take over the top starting spot.
Defending race winner Brad Keselowski will start third. Joey Logano and Carl Edwards round out the top five.
Stenhouse was fastest among the four Nationwide Series drivers in the running for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus. The driver in the program with the best finish will take home the bonus. The other drivers eligible are Elliott Sadler (qualified 12th), Ryan Truex (16th) and Kenny Wallace (18th).
In addition to being eligible for the bonus, Wallace will make his 519th Nationwide Series start tonight, tying the all-time mark set by Jason Keller.
2011 DOLLAR GENERAL 300 MILES OF COURAGE QUALIFYING SPEEDS
About the author
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
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