Out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup field for the first time since 2007, Greg Biffle figures there is one way to stay in the limelight — get to victory lane.
A two-time winner at Kansas Speedway, Biffle took the first step toward that goal Friday when he earned the pole for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400.
Biffle clocked a lap of 30.877 seconds on the 11/2-mile track at a speed of 174.887 mph to edge Roush Fenway teammate and Chase contender Carl Edwards (30.993, 174.571) for the pole.
“There’s one thing you can do when you don’t make the Chase, and that’s win races,” said Biffle, who won in October 2010 at Kansas. “They’re not going to talk about you if you finish second, third, fourth or fifth, but if you win they’re forced to talk about you when you’re not in the Chase. Topeka Capital Journal
Roush-Fenway Fords claimed three of the first four spots as Matt Kenseth was fourth and will sit outside of Kyle Busch, who was third at 174.447 in a Toyota.
Edwards, Busch and Kenseth are all involved in the Chase, but Biffle, who had qualified for the last three Chases, took satisfaction in claiming the pole at a track where he not only has won twice (2010 and 2007) but has finished second once and third three times. Kansas City Star
“I think it says something about the team how we started there and didn’t lose our patience, confidence and focus on getting the car to go,” said Biffle, whose most recent Cup win was Oct. 3, 2010, at Kansas.
Seven Chase drivers qualified outside the top 10: Ryan Newman (11th), Brad Keselowski (12th), Kevin Harvick (14th), Kurt Busch (17th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (18th), Jimmie Johnson (19th) and Tony Stewart (23rd).
“Qualifying here is not indicative of how you are going to run the race,” said Edwards, who vowed after finishing third at Dover last week that he would score his first Cup triumph at the track nearest his hometown of Columbia, Mo. “We have to focus really hard on race trim. The race is a long one, and you can pass here. It really matters how fast your car is in race trim.” USA Today
Keselowski won the most recent race at Kansas in June.
“We weren’t very good in qualifying trim today, but we were really good in race trim,” he said. “I feel good about Sunday, and I guess that’s the day that counts.”
Austin Dillon, the current points leader in the Camping World Truck Series, will start 26th in his Sprint Cup debut.
David Starr, Josh Wise and Mike Skinner failed to qualify for Sunday’s 400- mile race at Kansas, which is scheduled to start just after 2:00 p.m. (et). MiamiHerald.com
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas - Race Line-Up
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