Kurt Busch had never run all that well in Kansas, and a spinout during practice Friday certainly didn’t make it look as if he was about to turn that around.
Less than 24 hours and a few tweaks later, Busch captured the pole for the Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway and reversed a decade of tough luck at the 1.5-mile track.
Busch, who had never started higher than seventh in 10 career starts in Kansas and has never finished in the top five, topped the leaderboard at 174.752 mph in his No. 22 Dodge on Saturday. NASCAR.com
Busch’s pole, the 13th of his career and first of 2011, came after he damaged his car in a Friday practice spin.
“This is a great feeling, especially after yesterday when we spun in practice and had to repair front end damage,” Busch said. “I have to thank my guys for standing behind me, not just through yesterday but some of the tough times we’ve been through as of late.
“The guys back at the shop, I know that they’re slapping some high-fives today.”
Busch said the qualifying effort came after the team made significant changes from practice.
“It’s an amazing feeling when you’re down a little bit and you’re not exactly keen on knowing what to change or where to go,” Busch said. “Yesterday we were struggling in practice. We threw a bunch of things at the car today and got the pole.
“It’s an amazing world, the world of motorsports. One day you’re down and the next day you’re up.” Topeka Capital Journal
Juan Pablo Montoya’s lap at 174.154 m.p.h. earned him the outside pole.
“I think we’ve got a good race car,” Montoya said. “I think we made a lot gains with the car, and I’m pretty optimistic about tomorrow.”
Kyle Busch qualified third, followed by Brian Vickers and Joey Logano.
“It was a really good lap for us today,” Busch said. “If we would have had the car maybe that much better and would’ve had a much better [qualifying] draw, we probably could have been on the pole.”
Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards, the current points leader, Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard and Kevin Harvick, who won last weekend’s 600-mile race at Charlotte, completed the top-10. MiamiHerald.com
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