Matt Kenseth leads Joe Gibbs Racing parade in qualifying at Bristol

BRISTOL, TN - APRIL 17: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Dollar General Toyota, and Miss Coors Light, Rachel Rupert, pose with the Coors Light Pole Award sticker to his car after qualifying for the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 17, 2015 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
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BRISTOL, TN - APRIL 17:  Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Dollar General Toyota, and Miss Coors Light, Rachel Rupert, pose with the Coors Light Pole Award sticker to his car after qualifying for the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 17, 2015 in Bristol, Tennessee.  (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
BRISTOL, TN – APRIL 17: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Dollar General Toyota, and Miss Coors Light, Rachel Rupert, pose with the Coors Light Pole Award sticker to his car after qualifying for the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 17, 2015 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

Matt Kenseth was fastest when it mattered Friday and will lead the field to the green for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup series Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes at Bristol Motor Speedway.  Kenseth put down a lap of 14.917 seconds, 128.632 mph, early in the third and final five minute round to score his 14th career pole and his second at Bristol.

“Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and the guys made some really great adjustments.” Kenseth said. “They had the very best for the last lap and we were able to put it together. Glad we’re starting from the pole and we’ve got some work to do tomorrow to get it ready for Sunday, but there’s not a lot of great pit stalls here and it’s a good place to be in front and hopefully stay up there and out of trouble.”

Kenseth’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards will start third, with JGR’s Denny Hamlin starting fifth. The start for Edwards marks the best of this season with his new team.

“We have a very fast car and it’s going to be a fun race,” Edwards said. 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.