Kyle Busch won the Coors Light Pole Award Friday afternoon at New Hampshire with a new track record qualifying speed of 138.130 mph. This is the 13th track qualifying record set this season. It was Busch’s second pole of the season, his second at the Loudon track and his 15th career Cup pole.
There have been 12 different winners in the last 12 races at New Hampshire and if Busch’s fast lap is any indication, it could be 13 for 13. He had two second place finishes here in 2013.
“This has been a good place for us here,” Kyle noted. “Last year we qualified on the pole in the same race and finished second and followed that up with another second in the fall race here. So we’d love to be able to continue that on and see if we can’t make it one spot better here this weekend.”
Jimmie Johnson, who has three previous wins at the track, will line up second.
“I was very optimistic coming into qualifying today,” he said. “I thought I had enough to get it there. Then I saw Kyle’s lap. He definitely put one down.”
Busch’s teammate, Denny Hamlin will start from the third position. Tony Stewart, who also has three wins at the track, and Jamie McMurray, who has one top-five in his last six starts, rounded out the top five starting positions.
Notable drivers who did not make it into the second and final round of qualifying include Carl Edwards (14th), Matt Kenseth (15th), Kurt Busch (18th), Ryan Newman (24th) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. who will start 28th.
Kyle Busch will lead the field to green Sunday for the Sprint Cup Series Camping World RV Sales 301. Race coverage will begin at 1 p.m. ET on TNT and the green flag is set to drop at 1:15 p.m. The race will be Turner Sports’ final NASCAR broadcast.
Complete Starting Lineup for the Camping World RV Sales 301:
1. Kyle Busch
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Tony Stewart
5. Jamie McMurray
6. Joey Logano
7. Brad Keselowski
8. Clint Bowyer.
9. Martin Truex Jr.
10. Kasey Kahne
11. Jeff Gordon
12. Kevin Harvick
13. Kyle Larson
14. Carl Edwards
15. Matt Kenseth
16. Paul Menard
17. Brian Vickers
18. Kurt Busch
19. Aric Almirola
20. AJ Allmendinger
21. Marcos Ambrose
22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
23. Austin Dillon
24. Ryan Newman
25. Justin Allgaier
26. David Ragan
27. Greg Biffle
28. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
29. Danica Patrick
30. Jeff Burton
31. Casey Mears
32. Josh Wise
33. David Gilliland
34. Landon Cassill
35. Cole Whitt
36. Alex Bowman
37. Reed Sorenson
38. Ryan Truex
39. Michael Annett
40. Eddie MacDonald
41. Mike Bliss
42. Timmy Hill
43. Morgan Shepherd
