Kyle Busch made his debut at the Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) back in the year 2004 and he finished second in his very first start. Now, shift your focus to 2013 and he now has four wins at this track and earned his fifth pole position in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Busch is also a winner here in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series when he scored his second career victory here in 2005.
Brian Vickers will start on the outside of the front row. Today will be Vickers’ fifth career start here at the PIR in a Nationwide Series car. In half of those races thus far, Vickers has two top-3 finishes. Can he put the No.20 car in victory lane today?
Vickers teammate Matt Kenseth will start in the third spot. Kenseth is a former winner here in the Sprint Cup Series. He won the Checker Auto Parts 500 back in 2002 when he won five races during the course of the season en route to an 8th place finish in the standings.
The Toyota’s have shown their power this season, but will they be there in the end? That is a big question. The Toyota’s have the power, but they have had issues with engines similar to 2011.
Denny Hamlin just had to give up his 8th starting position because of an engine change and will start from the rear of the field during the Subway Fresh Fit 500 tomorrow afternoon.
Trevor Bayne, Justin Allgaier, Austin Dillon, Jimmie Johnson, Aric Almirola, Brad Keselowski, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-10.
Almirola is filling in for the injured Michael Annett who suffered a fractured sternum following a crash last weekend at Daytona. The injury was completely unrelated to the accident that involved Kyle Larson that injured 33 race fans. Senior Vice President of NASCAR Steve O’Donnell confirmed to us today that all but two fans have been released from Halifax Medical Center following the accident.
My pick to win today is Kyle Busch. He is due for a victory.
| Starting Lineup | |||||
| Dollar General 200, Phoenix Int’l Raceway | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/qual.php?race=2 | |||||
| =========================================== | |||||
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Make | Speed | Time |
| =========================================== | |||||
| 1 | 54 | Kyle Busch(i) | Toyota | 133.057 | 27.056 |
| 2 | 20 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | 132.188 | 27.234 |
| 3 | 18 | Matt Kenseth(i) | Toyota | 132.1 | 27.252 |
| 4 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 131.921 | 27.289 |
| 5 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 131.868 | 27.3 |
| 6 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 131.844 | 27.305 |
| 7 | 5 | Jimmie Johnson(i) | Chevrolet | 131.709 | 27.333 |
| 8 | 43 | Aric Almirola(i) | Ford | 131.666 | 27.342 |
| 9 | 22 | Brad Keselowski(i) | Ford | 131.483 | 27.38 |
| 10 | 33 | Kevin Harvick(i) | Chevrolet | 131.416 | 27.394 |
| 11 | 77 | Parker Kligerman | Toyota | 131.334 | 27.411 |
| 12 | 60 | Travis Pastrana | Ford | 131.2 | 27.439 |
| 13 | 7 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | 130.866 | 27.509 |
| 14 | 32 | Kyle Larson # | Chevrolet | 130.847 | 27.513 |
| 15 | 11 | Elliott Sadler | Toyota | 130.819 | 27.519 |
| 16 | 70 | Johanna Long | Chevrolet | 130.251 | 27.639 |
| 17 | 55 | Jamie Dick | Chevrolet | 129.987 | 27.695 |
| 18 | 99 | Alex Bowman # | Toyota | 129.936 | 27.706 |
| 19 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Ford | 129.898 | 27.714 |
| 20 | 14 | Eric McClure | Toyota | 129.744 | 27.747 |
| 21 | 2 | Brian Scott | Chevrolet | 129.725 | 27.751 |
| 22 | 19 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | 129.552 | 27.788 |
| 23 | 30 | Nelson Piquet Jr. # | Chevrolet | 129.255 | 27.852 |
| 24 | 44 | Hal Martin # | Toyota | 129.097 | 27.886 |
| 25 | 1 | Mike Wallace | Chevrolet | 129.055 | 27.895 |
| 26 | 10 | Jeff Green | Toyota | 129.023 | 27.902 |
| 27 | 79 | Jeffrey Earnhardt # | Ford | 128.036 | 28.117 |
| 28 | 92 | Dexter Stacey # | Ford | 127.936 | 28.139 |
| 29 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | 127.891 | 28.149 |
| 30 | 24 | Blake Koch | Toyota | 127.75 | 28.18 |
| 31 | 42 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 127.425 | 28.252 |
| 32 | 0 | Jason White | Toyota | 127.303 | 28.279 |
| 33 | 23 | Harrison Rhodes(i) | Ford | 127.303 | 28.279 |
| 34 | 46 | Chase Miller | Chevrolet | 127.289 | 28.282 |
| 35 | 51 | Ryan Sieg(i) | Chevrolet | 127.087 | 28.327 |
| 36 | 40 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 126.863 | 28.377 |
| 37 | 52 | Joey Gase | Chevrolet | 125.98 | 28.576 |
| 38 | 15 | Juan Carlos Blum # | Ford | 125.799 | 28.617 |
| 39 | 4 | Daryl Harr | Chevrolet | 125.427 | 28.702 |
| 40 | 74 | Mike Harmon | Chevrolet | 112.247 | 32.072 |
