Official Release

Kurt Busch led the way for Team Chevy in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifications at Darlington Raceway for the 66th running of the Bojangles’ Southern 500. Busch posted a quick time of 27.691-seconds/177.588 mph in his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS to earn the outside pole position for the 367-lap race. It is the 11th top 10-start for Busch this season and his ninth top-10 start at the 1.366-mile track.

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – Qualified 1st “We had a really good Miller High Life Ford and Paul Wolfe made good adjustments each round. The track was changing and the car was falling off as the tires were falling off and it is hot so the track was hard to get ahold of but the car is fast and my team did a great job."

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Starting Position: 10th - How was your backup car during the qualifying session? “Really proud of my M&M’s Crispy Toyota team for getting this backup car ready and in good enough shape to qualify in the top-10. We’ll have some more adjustments to make during the race tomorrow, but I feel confident we can get things figured out pretty quickly once the green flag drops.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 BUDWEISER/JIMMY JOHN’S CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 3RD - WHAT WAS YOUR CAR LACKING TODAY? “We were fairly good in the first two rounds. I felt like I could have pushed harder in those two rounds to go faster; and that last round, we just kind of missed the balance on our Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevy."

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion – Qualified 4th - “We were in the ballpark. I think all the Team Penske cars were pretty fast. I am proud of everybody there. Brad obviously laid down a good one there at the end. He never slowed down ever and everyone else was slowing down each lap. It was interesting to see that. We were just a little free all of qualifying there. We just never jumped the fence with it.”

With two races left before the start of the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Brad Keselowski got the momentum builder he needed with Saturday's pole-winning effort at Darlington Raceway.

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 3M CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Darlington Raceway to discuss his last Southern 500 as a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, making the Chase, the low downforce package and many other topics.

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 STP Ford Fusion, along with crew chief and Darlington, South Carolina native Trent Owens, met with media members after opening practice Saturday to discuss their 43 car throwback scheme, the weekend ahead and more.

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - What are your expectations for this weekend? “Well, it’s hard to pick expectations. You come here once a year – different aero package – so you’re not really sure, but certainly the last few months our cars have been fast, so we’re hoping we can continue that momentum here."

Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion, finds himself in the middle of a hot streak, having won two of the last three Sprint Cup races. Logano enters Sunday night’s Southern 500 second in the points standings and poised for a deep Chase run with two regular season races remaining. Logano spoke to media members Friday morning.