SPARTA, Ky. – With a new track record Friday at Kentucky Speedway, Brad Keselowski became the fourth different Coors Light Pole Award winner at the 1.5-mile speedway in advance of tomorrow night’s Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts.
With a lap of 28.603 seconds at 188.791 miles per hour, Keselowski in his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion knocked Team Penske teammate Joey Logano from the top-spot with under three minutes remaining in the final five-minute session. The previous track record held by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2013 at 183.636 miles per hour was beaten by 23 drivers.
Kentucky marks the Rochester Hills, Michigan native’s third pole of the season. The 30-year old has already matched his career total coming into this season. Team Penske also recorded their third joint front-row start of the season. The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion also won this event in his championship season after starting eighth.
Earlier Friday, Keselowski also recorded his 15th career pole in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
“The last few years we’ve been awful in qualifying, so ying and yang, it’s balancing back out,” said Keselowski. “It’s a huge morale booster for us and we’ve got to make it count on race day. Qualifying is great, but on Monday nobody talks about who won the pole — they talk about who won the race. We want to be that guy.”
Logano, who paced both the first and second knockout sessions respectively made a last minute effort to try and bump Keselowski, but came up nearly two-tenths short for his fourth second-place starting spot of the year.
“We won the first two sessions and I’m like, ‘Man, isn’t it going to rain?'” Logano said. “It didn’t rain and we came in second. … We keep winning the wrong session.”
Hendrick Motorsports’ Jeff Gordon was third followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick rounding out the top-five.
Gordon though despite starting from the inside of row-two, was extremely satisfied with his effort.
“Oh my gosh you never want to be satisfied unless you are on the pole or in Victory Lane, but this sort of feels like a victory for me because that first run was not pretty,” said Gordon. “I don’t know the car just didn’t do what I wanted it to do. That was a pretty wild session for the Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, but those last two or three runs were just so solid. That is a great place to start this race.”
Kyle Larson was sixth ahead of Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Danica Patrick, Clint Bowyer and Paul Menard comprised the remainder of the top-12.
Team Penske ended the second session in reversal roles with Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson inside the top-five. In the first knock-out qualifying session, Joey Logano led the way ahead of Danica Patrick, Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski and Jamie McMurray to close out the top-five. The intensity roared from near the bubble line, which shifted within the last couple minutes of the session.
Jimmie Johnson in his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS went out late and bumped himself inside the top-24, but a rally by Carl Edwards knocked the reigning champion out. He’ll start 25th.
The other surprise?
Two-time 2014 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. only maneuvered the 29th quickest lap overall in his No. 88 Chevrolet SS after three runs.
No one failed to qualify for the seventeenth race of the season.
The Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts will air live on TNT tomorrow (Saturday) night, June 28 beginning at 7:30 p.m.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying – Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts
Kentucky Speedway
Sparta, Kentucky
Friday, June 27, 2014
1. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 188.791 mph.
2. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 187.175 mph.
3. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 186.832 mph.
4. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 186.374 mph.
5. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 186.104 mph.
6. (42) Kyle Larson #, Chevrolet, 186.034 mph.
7. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 186.014 mph.
8. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 185.957 mph.
9. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 185.950 mph.
10. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 185.803 mph.
11. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 185.414 mph.
12. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 185.096 mph.
13. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 185.854 mph.
14. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 185.714 mph.
15. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 185.503 mph.
16. (3) Austin Dillon #, Chevrolet, 185.344 mph.
17. (55) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 185.096 mph.
18. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 185.052 mph.
19. (78) Martin Truex Jr, Chevrolet, 184.761 mph.
20. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 184.464 mph.
21. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 184.307 mph.
22. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 184.300 mph.
23. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 184.106 mph.
24. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 183.138 mph.
25. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 183.661 mph.
26. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 183.424 mph.
27. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 183.163 mph.
28. (51) Justin Allgaier #, Chevrolet, 182.815 mph.
29. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 182.803 mph.
30. (26) Cole Whitt #, Toyota, 182.778 mph.
31. (36) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 181.916 mph.
32. (7) Michael Annett #, Chevrolet, 181.464 mph.
33. (23) Alex Bowman #, Toyota, 181.287 mph.
34. (98) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 181.196 mph.
35. (32) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 180.421 mph.
36. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 179.700 mph.
37. (40) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, Owner Points
38. (33) David Stremme, Chevrolet, Owner Points
39. (83) Ryan Truex #, Toyota, Owner Points
40. (66) Joe Nemechek(i), Toyota, Owner Points
41. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, Owner Points
42. (93) Mike Bliss(i), Toyota, Owner Points
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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