Matt Kenseth wins pole but Tony Stewart steals the show at Texas

FORT WORTH, TX - OCTOBER 31: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Dollar General Toyota, poses with Miss Coors Light Rachel Rupert and the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for pole position for during Pinnacle Propane Qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on October 31, 2014 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway)
FORT WORTH, TX - OCTOBER 31:  Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Dollar General Toyota, poses with Miss Coors Light Rachel Rupert and the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for pole position for during Pinnacle Propane Qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on October 31, 2014 in Fort Worth, Texas.  (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway)
FORT WORTH, TX – OCTOBER 31: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Dollar General Toyota, poses with Miss Coors Light Rachel Rupert and the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for pole position for during Pinnacle Propane Qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on October 31, 2014 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway)

Matt Kenseth won the 13th pole of his career Friday night but much of the attention was on Tony Stewart . Kenseth won the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup AAA 500 with a lap of 199.299 in the final round of Friday night’s three round knockout qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway. However, Stewart made history with a lap of 200.111 in the second session to become the first driver to run an average lap of over 200 miles per hour on a 1.5-mile track.

“It is always cool to be the first guy to be able to do anything,” Stewart said. “To be the first to run 200 mph average on a 1.5-mile is pretty cool.”

In the first 25 minute session,  Kasey Kahne was the first out followed by Clint Bowyer . Kahne set a new track record, but it didn’t last long as Jimmie Johnson came out and set a fast lap of 199.734.  AJ Allmendinger knocked out Chase contender Brad Keselowski with less than 7 minutes to go. Keselowski went out for second run to try to improve, but fell short of moving into the next round.  He was the top name who failed to advance and will start 26th Sunday.

“That is unfortunate,” Keselowski said. “But there are 25 other guys out there that worked real hard and beat us so we will continue to work hard and try to be ready for the race.”  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.