Brad Keselowski takes a giant step toward Chase with Darlington pole
Sept. 5, 2015
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
DARLINGTON,
S.C. – With two races left before the start of the 2015 Chase for the
NASCAR Sprint Cup, Brad Keselowski got the momentum builder he needed
with Saturday’s pole-winning effort at Darlington Raceway.
“Boy,
this feels good,” said Keselowski, who toured the treacherous
1.366-mile Lady in Black in 27.492 seconds (178.874 mph) to edge Kurt
Busch for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 (7
p.m. ET on NBC).
The
Coors Light Pole Award was Keselowski’s first of the season, his first
at Darlington and the ninth of his career. The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series champion has but one top five to his credit in six previous
starts at the Track Too Tough to Tame, but NASCAR’s switch to a
low-downforce configuration for this race seemed to suit the driver of
the No. 2 Team Penske Ford.
“For
my team, we haven’t had, to date I would say, as strong of a year as
what we had last year, and I think that kind of wears on everybody a
little bit, including myself,” Keselowski said. “But I feel like we have
positive momentum, and you always want to see results that showcase
that, and this is one of those results that I feel like we can carry for
the next 12 weeks.
“I’m just really pleased with today’s qualifying effort and the momentum we’re carrying.”
With
tire fall-off a clear reality at Darlington, Busch set the fast speed
of the time trials in the first round, running 179.501 mph to edge Ricky
Stenhouse Jr. (179.389 mph) by .017 seconds. Through each subsequent
round, the top speeds declined as tires accumulated wear, with
Keselowski leading both the second and final sessions, the latter of
which determines the pole winner.
Kevin
Harvick, last year’s winner from the pole, qualified third at 177.415
mph, followed by Joey Logano (177.319 mph) and Jeff Gordon (177.192
mph).
Harvick, though, didn’t seem particular worried.
“I
feel a lot better about it in race trim than I did in qualifying trim,”
said the reigning Sprint Cup champion. “We try to concentrate on that
the most, because there is so much falloff. The cars are going to slide
around so much that I really feel like the cars need to be as manageable
as you can make them throughout the night.
“It’s
really not about the first two or three laps. You’ve got to be able to
stay in there and be able to maneuver your car and be comfortable and
keep it off the wall for at least 400 miles so that you can be around at
the end. So, we’ll try to take care of our car and make sure we do
everything right and get our car adjusted so that we’re ready for the
last 100 miles of the race.”
There
was plenty of suspense throughout the three rounds of knockout
qualifying. Denny Hamlin, pole winner for Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY
Series race at the Lady in Black, had to bump his way into the top 24
late in the opening round.
Three-time
Darlington winner Jimmie Johnson was the last driver to punch a ticket
to the second round, bumping Matt DiBenedetto by .009 seconds for the
24th spot. But Johnson’s run ended with a 19th-place run in the second
session.
Trying
to squeeze enough speed out of her No. 10 Chevrolet, Danica Patrick
tagged the outside wall during her final run in the first round, forcing
the team to roll out a backup car. Accordingly, Patrick will start from
the rear of the field on Sunday.
Fast
in Friday’s practice, Greg Biffle also sustained damage to his No. 16
Ford after contact with the wall in the second round. Biffle was
credited with a 24th-place qualifying effort, and his team opted to try
to repair the car, rather than resorting to a backup.
Note: Josh Wise, Timmy Hill and Travis Kvapil failed to make the 43-car field.
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