Carl Edwards captured the pole for Sunday’s Jeff Byrd 500, while his teammate, Greg Biffle, qualified second to give Roush Fenway Racing the front starting row at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Edwards claimed his second pole of the season after posting a lap at 128.014 m.p.h. around the half-mile, high banked Bristol track. He was the only driver who hit the 128 m.p.h. mark. Edwards’ first pole of the season came at Phoenix.
He was the quickest during Friday’s lone practice session at Bristol.
“This is unreal, and I hope this keeps going,” said Edwards, who notched his second pole at Bristol and the ninth of his Sprint Cup Series career. MiamiHerald.com
Regan Smith qualified a career-best third in a Chevrolet, and his 6.25 qualifying average this season is best in the Sprint Cup Series. Paul Menard was fourth in a Chevy, and David Ragan was fifth to put three Roush drivers in the top five.
It was Edwards’ ninth career pole, second of the season and fifth in the last 19 races.
For Biffle, it was a nice start to the weekend after his disastrous run at Las Vegas two weeks ago. Although he thought his car was just a tick off from Edwards’ race-winner, a series of problems in the pits led to a 28th-place finish. He’s 32nd in the points — dangerously close to falling outside the top-35 and having to qualify on speed to make the race.
“That would definitely be a concern of mine — having to qualify in the show, being the organization that we are and having fast cars this year,” Biffle said. “We arguably had one of the fastest cars at Las Vegas ... and we finished five laps down. That’s hard to do when you’ve got a really, really fast car.”
Defending race winner Jimmie Johnson qualified sixth and was followed by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon. Martin Truex Jr. qualified seventh in a Toyota, and Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top 10. The Associated Press
Goodyear is transporting new right-side tires to Bristol to replace the right sides both Cup and Nationwide teams ran during Friday’s practices. Cup drivers, who qualified on the tires that will be replaced, will have one set of new right sides for Saturday’s practice.
The tires Goodyear provided for the race failed to “rubber in” the race track, and heavy wear on the outside shoulder of the right-rear tire did not improve during practice.
Despite the tire issues, Edwards hopes his early season roll continues. He finished second in the Daytona 500, won the pole at Phoenix and claimed his first victory of the season in the March 6 Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“I’m enjoying this,” Edwards said. “I’m having fun. I’m hoping it lasts, and I’m going to keep driving the way I’m driving until we win a championship, or this car won’t go as fast.” NASCAR.com
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Jeff Byrd 500 at Bristol - Race Line-Up
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