Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Discount Tire Team Penske Ford, won the pole on Friday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway with a time of 37.80 seconds at 190.471 mph. This was the 16th pole of his career and his second at Michigan.
“We will find out as we go through race trim practice, but for right now, we’re going to celebrate and enjoy being the fastest car in qualifying,” Keselowski said to MRN Radio. “Really proud of our team here, our Discount Tire Ford Mustang. We unloaded so fast and made good adjustments to keep up with the changes in the track.”
“Of course everyone else was getting faster. Good start, so let’s keep it up.”
The top spot was traded many different times with Chevrolet holding the top spots before the Fords got on track and took the first two positions.
The other Ford driver was Kevin Harvick who held the pole briefly before Keselowski took it. Harvick qualified second with a time of 37.87.
“Yeah, it’s a good day for No. 4 Ford Mustang,” Harvick told MRN Radio. “I think track position is important everywhere we go. Coming to Michigan, it’s more important. That’s a good start to the weekend.”
Keselowski also noted whether or not track position will be needed for Sunday’s race.
“I’m not sure if track position will be quite as important as it was here in the spring,” Keselowski added. “You know, they put the PJ1 down and all that, I’m not complaining.”
Speaking of track position, the winners have come from various starting spots here in the past five races. Joey Logano won from the pole in June, Harvick won from the pole last August, Clint Bowyer won from 12th in June of 2018, Kyle Larson won from ninth in August of 2017 and first in June of 2017.
Keselowski was second fastest in pre-qualifying practice with a similar time of 37.90.
All cars had tech inspection after practice and no drivers had any issues getting through inspection, therefore the lineup will be official. However, there will be another round for tech inspection on Sunday morning. Should a driver fail more than two times, they will be sent to the back of the field.
Drivers will get to practice in race trim mode on Saturday as they have two more practice sessions. The second practice is slated for 8:35 a.m. ET live on CNBC and final practice will be at 11:30 a.m. ET live on the NBC Sports App.
Please note: The qualifying times of Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 of Austin Dillon and the No. 8 of Daniel Hemric were disallowed due to having unapproved alternators. As a result of the L1 infraction, Dillon and Hemric will lose 10 driver points and 10 owner points will be deducted as well. Each crew chief will also face a $25,000 fine. Dillon originally qualified seventh and Hemric was 11th but they will now start from the back of the field.
Updated Starting Lineup:
- Brad Keselowski
- Kevin Harvick
- William Byron
- Alex Bowman
- Clint Bowyer
- Chase Elliott
- Ryan Blaney
- Joey Logano
- Paul Menard
- Jimmie Johnson
- Daniel Suarez
- Aric Almirola
- Kurt Busch
- Denny Hamlin
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Erik Jones
- Kyle Larson
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Matt Tifft
- Ryan Newman
- Ty Dillon
- Kyle Busch
- Michael McDowell
- David Ragan
- Chris Buescher
- Bubba Wallace
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Landon Cassill
- Ryan Preece
- Ross Chastain
- Corey LaJoie
- Quin Houff
- Austin Theriault
- Cody Ware
- Reed Sorenson
- Spencer Boyd (Making first Cup Series start)
- Austin Dillon
- Daniel Hemric
