Kurt Busch broke his routine at Michigan International Speedway—but it didn’t matter.
Even without a spin during Friday’s practice, Busch won his third consecutive Sprint Cup pole during Saturday’s time trials at the 2-mile track.
Completing his first lap in 38.156 seconds (188.699 mph), Busch won the pole for Sunday’s Heluva Good! 400. In his previous two pole-winning efforts—at Kansas and Pocono—Busch had spun during Friday’s practice before claiming the top starting spot on Saturday.
“This is the first time we’ve had a pole without spinning or wrecking our primary car,” Busch said. “This was a conventional weekend, so to speak.” NASCAR.com
It’s the first time in four years that a driver won poles in three consecutive races (Ryan Newman was the last; in 2009, Brian Vickers won three straight poles during a five-race stretch that included two rainouts). The top starting spot in Sunday’s Heluva Good Sour Cream Dips 400 also marked four straight poles for Penske Racing (which qualified first at Charlotte with Brad Keselowski) for the first time in seven years.
“To be on the pole for three weeks, there are so many benefits behind the scenes with picking your pit selection first, with having track position right away,” said Busch, who has finished ninth and second the past two weeks after starting first. “When you get behind on pits stops, you can have a slow pit crew, and you have that first pit box, that’s going to help you get out in front of guys throughout the day. There’s a lot of good feeling from sitting on the pole.” USA Today
Reutimann will start on the outside pole after qualifying just 0.003 seconds behind Busch.
Matt Kenseth qualified third, while Brian Vickers and Regan Smith rounded out the top-five.
Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Paul Menard and Denny Hamlin, who is the defending race winner, qualified sixth through 10th, respectively. MiamiHerald.com
Though Reutimann posted his season-best qualifying effort, the driver of the No. 00 Toyota was clearly disappointed at not winning the pole.
“I put too much wheel to it and let it get loose—bobbled it,” Reutimann said. “I don’t know why I did that. You’re supposed to unwind the wheel through there [the corner], right? The deal was, I felt like I cost us, and when you feel like you cost yourself a pole—especially when it’s that close—you’re disappointed.
“I’m happy that we qualified [well], but we should have been better than that. We should have had enough there. There are some times when you go out there and you leave it all on the race track, and you come in and go, ‘I don’t know what I could have done to go any faster.’ This is just not one of those times—unfortunately.” NASCAR.com
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Race at Michigan International Speedway - Race Line-Up
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