Kyle Busch will have a front row seat when the field takes the green flag for Sunday's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race after qualifying with the fastest speed of 184.652 mph at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Driving the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Busch nabbed the top spot from Ryan Newman (184.419 mph) and clinched his first career pole at the iconic 1.5-mile oval.
A classic. That is what the Southern 500 is. Born in 1950, it predates NASCAR’s jewel events in Indianapolis, Bristol, Talladega, Charlotte, and Daytona. It is the Southern 500, the Labor Day classic at Darlington.
The smoke cleared after the weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, and there were surprises upon surprises. After an exciting NASCAR Camping World truck race in which Kyle Busch just edged out Timothy Peters on the last lap, it was followed up with Busch dominating the Nationwide Series race. What happened on Sunday was different, if not pleasing.
It looks like the Daytona Pre-Season Thunder event pushed teams to make decisions on 2012. If you remember, David Ragan, David Reutimann, Kurt Busch, and Clint Bowyer were dismissed or left their rides following the 2011 season.
It has been an interesting off-season in NASCAR, and I'm not just talking about the snow in Dallas. We learned things, like the best mathematicians hail from such places as Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, and the Carolinas.