NASCAR Cup Series

“You have to run so hard here that if the car slips it’s around and gone.  I ran a half a second faster today in practice than I did in qualifying yesterday.  So, with the grill open and tires on low pressure and all that, especially these morning sessions with overcast clouds you just run so hard that when something happens, it’s gone.”

Michigan native Brad Keselowski will lead the field to the green flag for the Pure Michigan 400 on August 13 after winning the pole with a speed of 203.097 mph. It marked his first pole in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at his hometown tack.

Brad Keselowski won the pole for the Pure Michigan 400 on Friday afternoon at his home track of Michigan International Speedway (MIS)

BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – YOU WERE BAD-FAST THAT LAST ROUND: "Yeah. Paul Wolfe and my team, they kept dialing in on the car and kept working on it. I've got goosebumps. It feels really good to run well here at Michigan. This is my home track. A lot of fans here. I have to put my glasses on so nobody can see me. Really cool. Really special."

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway and discussed racing sprint cars, how he is getting from Michigan to Knoxville to race tomorrow, regaining momentum heading into the playoffs and many other topics. Full Transcript:

Erik Jones qualified sixth and his Furniture Row Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. qualified 13th for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 5th “I felt like it was a solid day for us. Our No. 24 NAPA Chevy has driven pretty good all day long, which I think is encouraging. Obviously, need to be faster with just a little bit of overall speed. Fifth is a plenty good enough starting spot, so it will be a good selection on pit road and try to execute on Sunday.”

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Nature’s Bakery Ford Fusion, is 28 points behind Matt Kenseth for what is now the current final playoff spot, but a win this weekend at Michigan International Speedway would change that scenario. Bowyer spoke about his chances prior to today’s practice session.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AXALTA CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway and discussed his memories of racing at Michigan, attending Washington Redskin’s training camp and many other topics.

New paint scheme for you this weekend, how do you feel about it? “Yeah, really excited. Obviously ARRIS has been with us already for a couple years – a few years now actually, this is the third one. I’m really super excited to bring the new technology to the race track - to bring the new technology to the race track and to have different paint schemes. Super excited to be here at Michigan again. Already this is one of those places that definitely brings good memories and hopefully now that we have good momentum going on, hopefully we can keep that up.”