Logano captures the NNS Great Clips 200 pole at Phoenix; Sadler wrecks
[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Noel Lanier” align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]Joey Logano wants to leave JGR with a bang and nothing would sound better than to win another race for the famed Super Bowl winning coach and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion winning car owner, Joe Gibbs. Logano is off to a good start this weekend after posting a lap of 27.14, which beat Kyle Busch by just four tenths of a second. Austin Dillon, Sam Hornish Jr., and Brian Vickers rounded out the top-5.
Vickers is particularly happy this weekend. He will drive full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Nationwide Series next season in 2013, and is excited about defending his championship from ten years ago. Sam Hornish Jr. wants to prove to Roger Penske that he is worthy enough to force Penske to make a fourth team for 2013. Penske cited economic uncertainty as the reason why Hornish was let go the first time after the 2010 season. Hornish has since built a reputation off his Nationwide Series performances, and his run-ins with Danica Patrick.
Austin Dillon is coming into this weekend with good news as well after it was announced he will be running in the Daytona 500 next season driving RCR’s No.33. He is hoping to pull out a victory here in the desert. Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jason Leffler, and Brian Scott rounded out the top-10.
Stenhouse was unhappy about his lap after complaining of his car’s very loose condition. “We had a bad lap because I got loose. I nearly wrecked it.”
He can breathe a little easier though. At least he didn’t crash like Elliott Sadler. Sadler entered Turn 3 on his qualifying lap in the marbles and ended up in the wall. Sadler came up off the dog leg a little too abruptly, and it cost him as he ended up in the marbles as soon as he entered the turn. The two came into this race tied for the championship lead. Sadler will have to race his way through the field and be smart. He won here in the spring. Brian Scott starts this race from the tenth position after collecting his second career Truck Series victory last evening. He hopes to create his own sweep.
| Starting Lineup | |||||
| Great Clips 200, Phoenix Int’l Raceway | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/qual.php?race=32 | |||||
| =========================================== | |||||
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Make | Speed | Time |
| =========================================== | |||||
| 1 | 18 | Joey Logano | Toyota | 132.621 | 27.145 |
| 2 | 54 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 132.445 | 27.181 |
| 3 | 3 | Austin Dillon* | Chevrolet | 132.261 | 27.219 |
| 4 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | 132.047 | 27.263 |
| 5 | 20 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | 132.033 | 27.266 |
| 6 | 22 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | 131.989 | 27.275 |
| 7 | 38 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 131.844 | 27.305 |
| 8 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 131.675 | 27.34 |
| 9 | 30 | Jason Leffler | Chevrolet | 131.593 | 27.357 |
| 10 | 11 | Brian Scott | Toyota | 131.31 | 27.416 |
| 11 | 33 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 131.081 | 27.464 |
| 12 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 130.957 | 27.49 |
| 13 | 88 | Cole Whitt* | Chevrolet | 130.938 | 27.494 |
| 14 | 7 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 130.895 | 27.503 |
| 15 | 19 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | 130.895 | 27.503 |
| 16 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | Chevrolet | 130.624 | 27.56 |
| 17 | 43 | Michael Annett | Ford | 130.439 | 27.599 |
| 18 | 14 | Eric McClure | Toyota | 130.077 | 27.676 |
| 19 | 10 | Jeff Green | Toyota | 130.044 | 27.683 |
| 20 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | 129.861 | 27.722 |
| 21 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | 129.734 | 27.749 |
| 22 | 199 | Alex Bowman | Toyota | 129.613 | 27.775 |
| 23 | 108 | Paulie Harraka | Ford | 129.227 | 27.858 |
| 24 | 100 | Blake Koch | Toyota | 129.208 | 27.862 |
| 25 | 40 | Erik Darnell | Chevrolet | 129.037 | 27.899 |
| 26 | 86 | Kevin Lepage | Ford | 128.921 | 27.924 |
| 27 | 81 | Jason Bowles* | Toyota | 128.852 | 27.939 |
| 28 | 47 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | 128.852 | 27.939 |
| 29 | 42 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 128.778 | 27.955 |
| 30 | 46 | Chase Miller | Chevrolet | 128.292 | 28.061 |
| 31 | 191 | Tony Raines | Toyota | 128.041 | 28.116 |
| 32 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Chevrolet | 128.023 | 28.12 |
| 33 | 73 | Derrike Cope | Chevrolet | 127.547 | 28.225 |
| 34 | 1 | Mike Wallace | Chevrolet | 127.083 | 28.328 |
| 35 | 15 | Timmy Hill | Ford | 127.083 | 28.328 |
| 36 | 23 | Jamie Dick | Chevrolet | 126.778 | 28.396 |
| 37 | 39 | Dexter Stacey | Ford | 126.011 | 28.569 |
| 38 | 4 | Daryl Harr | Chevrolet | 124.675 | 28.875 |
| 39 | 44 | John Blankenship | Chevrolet | 122.917 | 29.288 |
| 40 | 41 | Noel Dowler+ | Ford | 121.741 | 29.571 |
| 41 | 124 | Derek White+ | Toyota | 120.144 | 29.964 |
| 42 | 70 | Nur Ali+ | Chevrolet | 102.837 | 35.007 |
| 43 | 174 | Mike Harmon | Chevrolet | 126.121 | 28.544 |
Kyle Busch Continues Dominance; Burton Crashes Again
[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Noel Lanier” align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]Kyle Busch was blistering quick last evening as he set the track record in winning the pole and his dominance of the weekend continued as he led practice this morning with a blistering lap of 26.55. Busch ran 35 laps during the session. Denny Hamlin was second quickest to make it a clean sweep for JGR Racing. Hamlin ran 14 laps and set a lap of 26.67. Both are favorites to win the race this weekend.
Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano rounded out the top-5. Truex is starting on the outside of the front row for the race tomorrow. Keselowski struggled during his qualifying lap primarily due to the cloud coverage in the area, but ran 24 laps and was very happy with his run. Joey Logano has had decent cars here in the past, but has never really been there at the end of the race to show it. He starts tomorrow in 15th, behind Keselowski.
Paul Menard, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-10. Bowyer is the last driver other than the top two that still has a mathematical chance to win the Chase. He sits 36 points back. For those who follow the old system, Johnson leads Keselowski by 19 points, and Greg Biffle by 46.
Speaking of Jimmie Johnson, he has not had a good weekend so far. He struggled in practice this morning, only running as high as 24th on the sheets with a fastest lap of 26.91. He is a 4-time winner here in Phoenix and it just seems like he hasn’t completely gotten used to the new surface despite finishing in the top-5 here in the spring.
[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Noel Lanier” align=”alignright” width=”234″]
[/media-credit]Jeff Burton has also had a weekend to forget. He wrecked his primary car on Friday, and had brake issues on his No.31 in practice today. Burton’s team opted to change chassis on the No.31 and will use their backup for the Cup event tomorrow. At the time of the accident, Burton was 20th quickest on the track.
Is this going to be a JGR weekend? We shall see tomorrow!
