The Brickyard is a racetrack unlike any other. Once a driver has a feel for it they can exploit that for speed and success. Kyle Busch proved that again on Saturday when he dominated knockout qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Busch finished second in the first round of qualifying then led the final two rounds to secure his first Coors Light Pole Award at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Sprint Cup Series. Busch’s time in the final round was 48.745 seconds for a speed of 184.634 mph. Busch beat teammate Carl Edwards in the final round by .023 seconds.
Tony Stewart continued his recent stretch of strong efforts by running third quick in the final session. Denny Hamlin was the third Joe Gibbs Racing car in the first four positions, with Brad Keselowski leading the Fords in fifth.
Rounding out the fast 12 in Brickyard time trials were Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch and Austin Dillon. After posting the quickest lap in round one of qualifying Jimmie Johnson faild to transfer to round three and will start 13th on Sunday. Other notable drivers knocked out in round two were Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, and Jeff Gordon.
Among the drivers who had to qualify on time Ryan Blaney was fastest in the first round in 16th position. Cole Whitt, Ryan Elliss and Reed Sorenson also managed to time their way into the 23rd Brickyard. Josh Wise was the slowest driver in first round qualifying and is the lone driver not to make the 40 car field.
This is Busch’s first pole at IMS and second of the 2016 season. Busch has scored 19 poles in 410 attempts in his career. Elliott was the fastest qualifying rookie in the field.
Qualifying Results for the 23rd Annual Crown Royal presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400:
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next Qualifying Round: 3 1 18 Kyle Busch Skittles Toyota 48.745 184.634 1 1 0.000 0.000 2 19 Carl Edwards Stanley Toyota 48.768 184.547 1 1 0.023 0.023 3 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/ChevySummerSellDown Chevrolet 48.826 184.328 1 1 0.081 0.058 4 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 48.892 184.079 1 1 0.147 0.066 5 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 49.022 183.591 1 1 0.277 0.130 6 31 Ryan Newman Grainger Chevrolet 49.126 183.202 1 1 0.381 0.104 7 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John's Chevrolet 49.220 182.852 1 1 0.475 0.094 8 78 Martin Truex Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 49.315 182.500 1 1 0.570 0.095 9 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's Chevrolet 49.325 182.463 1 1 0.580 0.010 10 42 Kyle Larson Energizer Chevrolet 49.346 182.386 1 1 0.601 0.021 11 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chev 49.356 182.349 1 1 0.611 0.010 12 3 Austin Dillon DOW/Mycogen Chevrolet 49.373 182.286 1 1 0.628 0.017 Qualifying Round: 2 1 18 Kyle Busch Skittles Toyota 48.589 185.227 1 1 0.000 0.000 2 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/ChevySummerSellDown Chev 48.679 184.885 1 1 0.090 0.090 3 19 Carl Edwards Stanley Toyota 48.756 184.593 1 1 0.167 0.077 4 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 48.792 184.456 1 1 0.203 0.036 5 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 48.891 184.083 1 1 0.302 0.099 6 78 Martin Truex Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 48.951 183.857 1 1 0.362 0.060 7 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's Chevrolet 48.958 183.831 1 1 0.369 0.007 8 42 Kyle Larson Energizer Chevrolet 48.992 183.703 1 1 0.403 0.034 9 31 Ryan Newman Grainger Chevrolet 48.993 183.700 1 1 0.404 0.001 10 3 Austin Dillon DOW/Mycogen Chevrolet 49.000 183.673 1 1 0.411 0.007 11 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John's Chevrolet 49.007 183.647 1 1 0.418 0.007 12 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chev 49.024 183.584 1 1 0.435 0.017 13 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Red Vest Chevrolet 49.032 183.554 1 3 0.443 0.008 14 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 49.107 183.273 1 1 0.518 0.075 15 24 Chase Elliott # NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 49.162 183.068 1 1 0.573 0.055 16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. SunnyD Ford 49.175 183.020 1 3 0.586 0.013 17 * 21 Ryan Blaney # Quick Lane/Motorcraft Ford 49.228 182.823 1 1 0.639 0.053 18 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 49.390 182.223 1 1 0.801 0.162 19 16 Greg Biffle Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford 49.435 182.057 1 1 0.846 0.045 20 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 49.456 181.980 1 1 0.867 0.021 21 88 Jeff Gordon Axalta Chevrolet 49.491 181.851 1 1 0.902 0.035 22 34 Chris Buescher # Dockside Logistics Ford 49.651 181.265 1 1 1.062 0.160 23 27 Paul Menard Valvoline/Menards Chevrolet 49.670 181.196 1 1 1.081 0.019 24 10 Danica Patrick Nature's Bakery Chevrolet 49.984 180.058 1 1 1.395 0.314 Qualifying Round: 1 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Red Vest Chevrolet 48.435 185.816 1 1 0.000 0.000 2 18 Kyle Busch Skittles Toyota 48.438 185.805 1 1 0.003 0.003 3 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 48.500 185.567 1 1 0.065 0.062 4 19 Carl Edwards Stanley Toyota 48.503 185.556 1 1 0.068 0.003 5 3 Austin Dillon DOW/Mycogen Chevrolet 48.512 185.521 1 1 0.077 0.009 6 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/ChevySummerSellDown Chev 48.542 185.406 1 1 0.107 0.030 7 24 Chase Elliott # NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 48.554 185.361 1 1 0.119 0.012 8 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. SunnyD Ford 48.620 185.109 1 1 0.185 0.066 9 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John's Chevrolet 48.635 185.052 1 1 0.200 0.015 10 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's Chevrolet 48.644 185.018 1 1 0.209 0.009 11 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chev 48.681 184.877 1 1 0.246 0.037 12 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 48.695 184.824 1 1 0.260 0.014 13 10 Danica Patrick Nature's Bakery Chevrolet 48.709 184.771 1 1 0.274 0.014 14 78 Martin Truex Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 48.742 184.646 1 1 0.307 0.033 15 88 Jeff Gordon Axalta Chevrolet 48.769 184.543 1 1 0.334 0.027 16 * 21 Ryan Blaney # Quick Lane/Motorcraft Ford 48.792 184.456 1 1 0.357 0.023 17 31 Ryan Newman Grainger Chevrolet 48.806 184.404 1 1 0.371 0.014 18 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 48.881 184.121 1 1 0.446 0.075 19 42 Kyle Larson Energizer Chevrolet 48.913 184.000 1 1 0.478 0.032 20 27 Paul Menard Valvoline/Menards Chevrolet 48.949 183.865 1 1 0.514 0.036 21 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 48.990 183.711 3 3 0.555 0.041 22 16 Greg Biffle Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford 49.052 183.479 1 1 0.617 0.062 23 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 49.104 183.284 1 1 0.669 0.052 24 34 Chris Buescher # Dockside Logistics Ford 49.114 183.247 3 3 0.679 0.010 25 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger/Kingsford Chevrolet 49.135 183.169 1 3 0.700 0.021 26 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 49.151 183.109 3 3 0.716 0.016 27 95 Michael McDowell Thrivent Financial Chevrolet 49.229 182.819 1 2 0.794 0.078 28 23 David Ragan Brandeis Machinery Toyota 49.342 182.400 1 1 0.907 0.113 29 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 49.391 182.219 1 2 0.956 0.049 30 83 Matt DiBenedetto ScienceLogic Toyota 49.428 182.083 1 2 0.993 0.037 31 15 Clint Bowyer AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet 49.469 181.932 1 3 1.034 0.041 32 44 Brian Scott # Medallion Bank Ford 49.535 181.690 1 3 1.100 0.066 33 38 Landon Cassill Snap Fitness Ford 49.630 181.342 1 3 1.195 0.095 34 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 49.781 180.792 1 3 1.346 0.151 35 * 98 Cole Whitt Speed Stick Chevrolet 50.097 179.651 1 1 1.662 0.316 36 * 93 Ryan Ellis(i) ScienceLogic Toyota 50.274 179.019 1 1 1.839 0.177 37 7 Regan Smith Nikko RC/Toy State Chevrolet 50.461 178.356 1 1 2.026 0.187 38 46 Michael Annett Allstate Peterbilt Group Chevrolet 50.568 177.978 1 3 2.133 0.107 39 * 55 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 51.084 176.180 1 1 2.649 0.516 40 32 Patrick Carpentier Can-Am/Kappa Ford 51.716 174.027 2 2 3.281 0.632 41 * 30 Josh Wise Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet 52.737 170.658 1 3 4.302 1.021
About the author
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? The writer, radio contributor and racetrack announcer coordinates the site’s local short track coverage, hitting up Saturday Night Specials across the country while tracking the sport’s future racing stars. The writer for our signature Cup post-race column, Thinkin’ Out Loud (Mondays) also sits down with Cup crew chiefs to talk shop every Friday with Tech Talk. Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.
If he “dominates” qualifying he leads all three sessions. He didn’t dominate. Must have hurt his ego.