Tony Stewart captured his thirteenth career pole Thursday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a qualifying speed of 191.959 mph.
[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”206″]
[/media-credit]Stewart was happy with his effort but a little surprised that the speeds did not noticeably increase from what they had experienced during practice.
“That was a pretty cool lap, obviously,” he said. But, Stewart continued, “Typically we see the pace pick up a little more in qualifying than what we saw tonight.”
Five of the top ten positions were claimed by drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Matt Kenseth will start beside Stewart in the second position followed by Carl Edwards in third. Ryan Newman qualified sixth and Jimmie Johnson secured the ninth starting spot.
The remaining Chase contenders qualified as follows:
Kevin Harvick – 14th
Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 15th
Denny Hamlin – 17th
Kurt Busch – 20th
Jeff Gordon – 23rd
Kyle Busch – 25th
Brad Keselowski – 26th.
Drivers Josh Wise, Scott Speed and Geoffrey Bodine failed to make the field.
The Bank of America 500 this Saturday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway is the fifth race in the fight for the Sprint Cup championship.
| Starting Lineup | |||||
| Bank of America 500, Charlotte Motor Speedway | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=31 | |||||
| =========================================== | |||||
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Make | Speed | Time |
| =========================================== | |||||
| 1 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 191.959 | 28.131 |
| 2 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 191.918 | 28.137 |
| 3 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 191.87 | 28.144 |
| 4 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | 191.768 | 28.159 |
| 5 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 191.741 | 28.163 |
| 6 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 191.585 | 28.186 |
| 7 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 191.462 | 28.204 |
| 8 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | 191.394 | 28.214 |
| 9 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 191.34 | 28.222 |
| 10 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 191.259 | 28.234 |
| 11 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | 191.002 | 28.272 |
| 12 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 191.002 | 28.272 |
| 13 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | 190.9 | 28.287 |
| 14 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 190.894 | 28.288 |
| 15 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 190.833 | 28.297 |
| 16 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | 190.82 | 28.299 |
| 17 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 190.799 | 28.302 |
| 18 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 190.638 | 28.326 |
| 19 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | 190.611 | 28.33 |
| 20 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | 190.57 | 28.336 |
| 21 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | 190.429 | 28.357 |
| 22 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | 190.255 | 28.383 |
| 23 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 190.007 | 28.42 |
| 24 | 13 | Casey Mears | Toyota | 189.727 | 28.462 |
| 25 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 189.54 | 28.49 |
| 26 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | 189.52 | 28.493 |
| 27 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 189.401 | 28.511 |
| 28 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | 189.082 | 28.559 |
| 29 | 0 | David Reutimann | Toyota | 188.923 | 28.583 |
| 30 | 51 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 188.851 | 28.594 |
| 31 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | 188.772 | 28.606 |
| 32 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | 188.725 | 28.613 |
| 33 | 34 | David Gilliland | Ford | 188.6 | 28.632 |
| 34 | 55 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | 188.271 | 28.682 |
| 35 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | 188.239 | 28.687 |
| 36 | 30 | David Stremme | Chevrolet | 187.918 | 28.736 |
| 37 | 66 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | 187.454 | 28.807 |
| 38 | 38 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | 187.383 | 28.818 |
| 39 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | 187.311 | 28.829 |
| 40 | 71 | Andy Lally* | Ford | 186.657 | 28.93 |
| 41 | 71 | Hermie Sadler+ | Ford | 185.676 | 29.083 |
| 42 | 32 | Mike Bliss+ | Ford | 185.44 | 29.12 |
| 43 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | 186.303 | 28.985 |
