With a fast lap of 35.645 seconds, 201.992 mph at the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway, Kasey Kahne captured the pole position in his No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet SS for the Quicken Loans 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race. It was the first pole and ninth top-10 start of the 2015 season for Kahne, and also marked his 27th career Cup pole.
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Starting Position: 4th - How was the car in qualifying? “The ARRIS Toyota is pretty good and I thought I messed that lap up and it was still fast. I think we have a good race car and now we’ll just work on race trim tomorrow and hopefully be good in the race. There is some stuff we can work on, but qualifying trim is so different than race trim. It will be a lot different tomorrow.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 GREAT CLIPS CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER “I got through (Turns) 1 and 2 pretty good. I just got a little free but was able to stay in it. And then in (Turn) 3 I was like man, I was a little loose there and I’ve been back-pedaling more than I wanted to. So, I pushed harder in (Turn) 3 and I started to kind of slide the nose, so I had to backpedal and go back down. I knew it killed my exit a little, but it was still a great lap. Our Great Clips Chevrolet has had speed all three runs, so I knew we’d have a shot today, so that was cool. It’s been a while since we’ve had a pole.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion (Qualified 3rd) – “It was a good lap. This is one of our weakness tracks here at Michigan International Speedway. We are working on it and trying to get better. I honestly didn’t think we would qualify this well. We came with some new stuff on the car which seems to be working. I am proud of everyone at Team Penske, Ford and Roush Yates engines for that.”
Zac Emmons, PIR Director of Communications: “We are joined here by Phoenix International Raceway President Bryan Sperber and four-time Sprint Cup series Champion Jeff Gordon. Gordon is a four-time winner at Phoenix, three times in NASCAR-sanctioned competition and Bryan’s got a really special announcement about our November race in Phoenix.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 GREAT CLIPS CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER “I got through (Turns) 1 and 2 pretty good. I just got a little free but was able to stay in it. And then in (Turn) 3 I was like man, I was a little loose there and I’ve been back-pedaling more than I wanted to. So, I pushed harder in (Turn) 3 and I started to kind of slide the nose, so I had to backpedal and go back down. I knew it killed my exit a little, but it was still a great lap. Our Great Clips Chevrolet has had speed all three runs, so I knew we’d have a shot today, so that was cool. It’s been a while since we’ve had a pole.”
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) returns to the track this weekend in Madison, Illinois, just outside of St. Louis, for the Drivin’ For Linemen 200. Travis Kvapil will make his 6th NCWTS start at the Gateway Motorsports Park.
Rally’s and Checkers restaurants will be riding with talented rookie driver Ross Chastain as he competes in Saturday’s Great Clips 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
MARTIN TRUEX, JR. NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/VISSER PRECISION CHEVROLET SS AND FURNITURE ROW RACING GM, JOE GARONE met with media and discussed the last week’s win at Pocono, the success of a one-car team based in Denver, the possibility of an upcoming rules change, the quest for sponsorship, and more.
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 PANASONIC CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed his confidence at Michigan, his goal of winning at Kentucky, radio discussions and frustrations last week at Pocono, and more.
Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing wasn’t fueling around in Talladega Sunday. Brad Keselowski was the mastermind of a Stage One strategy that became the talk of the race.
The reigning two-time Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led 23 of 189-overscheduled laps and went from 11th to 1st in half of the final lap during an overtime shootout to score his first superspeedway victory and increase his points lead by 73 points with two-scheduled events remaining.
