Keselowski nips Bowyer for New Hampshire pole

Keselowski nips Bowyer for New Hampshire pole



By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

LOUDON, N.H.—A sudden burst of sunlight put Brad Keselowski in the spotlight Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, stealing some of the limelight from the 12 drivers ready to start competition in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Looking for his first top-10 finish of the season, Keselowski won the Coors Light Pole Award for Sunday's Sylvania 300 at the Magic Mile with a track-record run at 133.572 mph (28.515 seconds). Keselowski made his run just as the sun penetrated the cloud cover but before it could elevate the track temperature significantly.
Keselowski edged Chase driver Clint Bowyer (133.464 mph), as both improved on the previous qualifying record of Juan Pablo Montoya (133.431 mph on Sept. 20, 2009). Montoya (133.357 mph) qualified fifth Friday, one spot behind Earnhardt Ganassi teammate Jamie McMurray (133.389 mph).
Keselowski thought the appearance of the sun right before he made his two-lap run was more of a coincidence than a contributing factor to the first pole of his Cup career.
"It's really hard to tell," said Keselowski, who has had what he termed a "tumultuous" first full season in Cup racing. "The sun was going in and out toward the end (of the session) there quite a bit. The lap-time fluctuation was really hard to predict.
"If the cars that ran after me would have had faster first laps, I would have really said it was a factor, but they did not have faster first laps—because that heat in the track should have given them a faster first and slower second (lap). Just from that I would tend to think it was not as big a deal as you might think it is."
What was a big deal was the ray of hope for Keselowski's Cup team.
"This is certainly one of the sparks that we need to get this team energized and run up front," he said.
Only four of the 12 drivers eligible for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title will start from the top 10 on a circuit where track position can be critical. Tony Stewart qualified third at 133.413 mph, Kyle Busch was ninth at 133.096 mph, and Carl Edwards claimed the 10th starting spot with a lap at 133.040 mph.
The drivers who entered the Chase as the top two seeds both struggled. Denny Hamlin will start 22nd after a lap at 132.094 mph, and four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson ran a disappointing 131.993 mph to claim the 25th starting spot.
Of the remaining Chase drivers, Kurt Busch qualified 12th, Jeff Burton 13th, Greg Biffle 14th, Jeff Gordon 17th, Kevin Harvick 27th and Matt Kenseth 33rd.
Stewart doesn't think the qualifying positions of the Chase drivers will matter much once the race starts.
"You're seeing the same thing that we've always seen here—there's always guys that race a lot better than they qualify," Stewart said. "It's two laps hit-or-miss (in qualifying), and you've got 300 laps to make it right for the race."
Note: Johnny Sauter and Jeff Green failed to qualify for the 43-car field.