Martin Truex Jr. qualified 0.006 seconds faster than Kasey Kahne to win Friday’s qualifying for the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway.
Truex, a native of nearby Mayetta, NJ, captured his fifth career Sprint Cup Series pole with a lap of 157.315 m.p.h. His only Cup win so far came here in June 2007.
Kahne will start on the outside pole at Dover for the third time.
Mark Martin qualified third, followed by Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson, who won both Sprint Cup races at Dover last year. Johnson led the way in today’s lone practice.
Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, A.J. Allmendinger, Carl Edwards and Sam Hornish Jr. completed the top-10. MiamiHerald.com
For the 29-year-old Truex, Dover is a “home track” of sorts—he grew up just a couple of hours away in Mayetta, N.J.
“To come here to Dover with my old number, 56, that has always been so special to me,” Truex said, “[and] making my first Nationwide start here with that number on the car. All those little things make it special for me.
“So it’s great to come here and get a pole.”
Truex said it was a bit of a change in philosophy that helped the team find the necessary speed. In his first year at Michael Waltrip Racing, and teamed with crew chief Pat Tryson, Truex noted that making the trek to the tracks for the first time as a new group had slowed their progress. Getting the car prepared for race day was much more important, he said, than getting it set up for a fast lap in qualifying. NASCAR.com
Kahne, who qualified second, had similar sentiments and anticipated more adjustments during Saturday’s practice sessions.
“It was a good run for us,” Kahne said. “I think we started in the same spot last year. So we’re looking forward to Sunday. We need to keep working on the car tomorrow.”
Mark Martin’s strong qualifying run at Dover was no surprise. He’s a four-time winner on the concrete in the Cup series and won two more times in the second-tier series. He had two top-10s at Dover last year, including second place in September.
Martin has 29 career top-10 starts at Dover
“We weren’t expecting to be a pole contender, for sure,” he said. “There are times when you think you’re going to be a pole contender, you’re not and you wind up sorely disappointed, and today we really got a great lap.” The Associated Press
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Autism Speaks 400 at Dover - Race Line-Up
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