Kyle Busch wins Pole at Loudon with new track record

LOUDON, NH - JULY 11: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, right, poses with Miss Coors Light Rachel Rupert and the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 11, 2014 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
LOUDON, NH - JULY 11:  Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, right, poses with Miss Coors Light Rachel Rupert and the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 11, 2014 in Loudon, New Hampshire.  (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
LOUDON, NH – JULY 11: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, right, poses with Miss Coors Light Rachel Rupert and the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 11, 2014 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

For the 13th time this season Friday the NASCAR Sprint Cup series knockout qualifying set a new track record. Kyle Busch wheeled his Joe Gibbs Racing to a speed of 27.574 seconds, or 138.130 mph at New Hampshire Motor Speedway beating the old record set in September of last year of 136.497.

Busch was 10th the first, and only practice session earlier in the day with a speed of 134.696. He had the speed when it mattered though winning the second session and his second pole of the season. Busch later admitted that he wasn’t sure if his winning lap was actually all that good.

“I gave it everything I had,” Busch said. “I thought I was a little too tight, but I guess I was driving through it enough that I still got some good speed and got the throttle down on both ends. Lap felt good and I thought it was going to be a solid top-four. Real proud of the guys on this Interstate Batteries Camry. We didn’t unload great, but made some good changes and made up some good ground. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. 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.