Dillon captures the Kansas Lottery 300 pole
With cool damp air, the qualifying speeds for the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Kansas Lottery 300 pole were elevated. Austin Dillon captured the pole position with a new qualifying record with a lap of 29.281 seconds or 184.420 mph in the AdvoCare Spark Chevrolet. This is his 10th pole position in 2013 and his first at Kansas Speedway.
The outside front row spot will be Justin Allgaier. Elliott Sadler will start third in the Sport Clips Toyota.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) regular and NNS stand out Kyle Busch turned in a disappointing qualifying performance in the Monster Energy Toyota starting on the outside of the sixth row in the 12th spot.
Kyle “Yung Money” Larson qualified 19th in the Cessna Chevrolet. Larson who will be joining the Earnhardt/Ganassi Sprint Cup team next year was confident in his teams ability to rebound during the race.
Austin Dillon who was decked out in pink to represent Breast Cancer Awareness said, “Our car was really fast and we are going to make sure we stay out front all day with the cooler temperatures. The guys made a lot of changes to adapt to the cooler temperatures and I am really proud of them. Now it’s up to us and the pit crew to keep them up front all day and put this AdvoCare Spark Chevrolet in Victory Lane.”
NNS points leader Sam Hornish qualified a disappointing 15th with teammate Brad Keselowski coming home in the 13th spot. Hornish said, “We have a really good car we just didn’t qualify well. We will make some changes and we will come back and do what we can in the race.”
Note of interest all of Austin Dillon’s driver wardrobe will be donated to raise money for Breast Cancer awareness. Information on the auction can be found at Richard Childress Racing.com. If Dillon wins this weekend’s Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway, AdvoCare will make a $5,000 donation to the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma.
Harvick captures the Hollywood Casino 400 pole at Kansas
As the sun went down over the Kansas Speedway qualifying for the fourth race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Series began. Kevin Harvick would take the pole with a lap of 28.796 seconds or 187.526 mph.
The stories of the day were varied although the action was pretty calm with drivers fighting the new tires brought to the track by Goodyear. They included a scare for Jimmie Johnson and the 48 team when a spin and a puff of smoke took Johnson to the garage and the attention of Chad Knaus.
Mark Martin and Tony Stewart’s Bass Pro Shops number 14 team struggled to find the handle and speed. Clint Bowyer searched in vain for speed.
But there were good stories too, Ricky Stenhouse Jr would take the outside pole. Denny Hamlin would break through with a tenth place starting spot. Hometown boy Carl Edwards would take home ninth.
The pole position was Harvick’s first in 254 races. “When you when that few poles you can remember what happens to you on that day. The car was really fast right off the truck. We went back to where we started and we had a really good qualifying run.”
Starting Order for the Hollywood Casino 400: 1) Kevin Harvick 2) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 3) Jimmie Johnson 4) Brad Keselowski 5) Joey Logano 6) Dale Earnhardt Jr. 7) Matt Kenseth 8) Paul Menard 9) Carl Edwards 10) Denny Hamlin 11) Brian Vickers 12) Juan Pablo Montoya 13) Martin Truex Jr. 14) Jeff Gordon 15) Kasey Kahne 16) Jeff Burton 17) Ryan Newman 18) Kyle Busch 19) Kurt Busch 20) Aric Almirola 21) Justin Allgaier 22) Clint Bowyer 23) Mark Martin 24) Jamie McMurray 25) Marcos Ambrose 26) Greg Biffle 27) David Reutimann 28) A.J. Allmendinger 29) Danica Patrick 30) Cole Whitt 31) Michael McDowell 32) David Ragan 33) J.J. Yeley 34) David Gilliland 35) Timmy Hill 36) Travis Kvapil 37) Casey Mears 38) Josh Wise 39) Joe Nemecheck 40) Reed Sorenson 41) Dave Blaney 42) Tony Raines 43) Landon Cassill
