Rainout puts Kyle Busch on Kentucky pole
SPARTA, Ky.—When a sudden rain shower interrupted and then washed out Sprint Cup qualifying Friday at Kentucky Speedway, Kyle Busch inherited the pole position for Saturday night's Quaker State 400 as the fastest driver in Friday's practice.
The field for the inaugural Cup race at the 1.5-mile track was set according to NASCAR's rainout rules, with the starting order established by speeds in final practice. Under that format, Juan Pablo Montoya will take the green flag next to Busch, on the outside of the front row.
Kurt Busch, Kyle's brother, will start third in his No. 22 Penske Dodge.
All told, 22 cars had made qualifying attempts before the storm arrived. Brian Vickers was at the top of the board, but with qualifying rained out, the times of all 22 drivers did not count.
Though he didn't know it at the time, Kyle Busch locked up the top starting spot—and the first pick of pit stalls that goes with it—by running 182.803 mph (29.540 seconds) in Happy Hour. That lap was .049 seconds faster than Montoya's (182.500 mph). Kurt Busch posted a fastest lap time of 29.614 seconds (182.346 mph) in final practice.
Kasey Kahne will start fourth Saturday night, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Tony Stewart and Paul Menard. Series points leader Kevin Harvick claimed the 19th starting position.
One significant casualty of the rainout was Michael Waltrip, who came to Kentucky Speedway with a racecar honoring his brother, Darrell Waltrip, who was elected into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in June. Because of limited qualifying attempts this season, Waltrip did not make the field for the Cup race in his native state.
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(July 8, 2011)
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