This is the weekend for Matt Kenseth to dabble in history.
The 2003 NASCAR season champion came to Chicagoland Speedway as one of the popular favorites to win Sunday afternoon’s GEICO 400.
He begins the Chase for the Sprint Cup as the No. 4 seed among the 12 qualifiers and perhaps the one who can spoil Jimmie Johnson’s bid for an unprecedented sixth straight championship.
“We’ve been qualifying better if you throw Richmond out,” Kenseth said. “I haven’t really done anything to become a better qualifier. The main thing is the car is really fast. But I’ve maybe done a better job of not overdriving the car.”
It is only qualifying, but Kenseth gains the upper hand for track position in the first race in the Chase. The other Chase qualifiers starting in the top 10 are Kurt Busch (third), Ryan Newman (fourth), Carl Edwards (fifth), Brad Keselowski (sixth) and Kyle Busch (ninth).
Paul Menard qualified second at 183.125 mph, Greg Biffle seventh, Brian Vickers eighth and Joey Logano 10th. Chicago Sun-Times
“I think starting up front is nice, having a good pit stall. Hopefully, you can get a good start and get a bonus point [for leading a lap] and try to keep up with the track a little better. We’ve been qualifying a lot better, if you throw Richmond out, but we’ve been slipping a little at the end of the race. I’m really happy to be on the pole, but it’s just a starting position, and we’ve got to work really hard on the race, keeping up with our adjustments and that type of thing.”
Kurt Busch can thank a few last-minute changes by crew chief Steve Addington and a strong drive for his second-row starting spot.
“It was a great qualifying effort for us,” said Busch, who won the first Cup championship contested under the Chase format in 2004. “We feel like getting off to a strong start in the Chase is important, and it starts with qualifying.
“Thanks to my guys and most importantly, Steve Addington. He made a couple of quick adjustments while the car was on the grid for qualifying this afternoon.” NASCAR.com
Five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson qualified 12th, and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. 19th. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon was 23rd, Tony Stewart qualified 26th and Denny Hamlin was 27th.
Stewart, who struggled through two Friday practice sessions, felt his Chevrolet had improved in part to it being 11 degrees warmer Saturday than it was Friday.
“It was much better than we were yesterday,” he said. “Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer, so that will help us some more.”
Kevin Harvick was the lowest qualifying Chase driver at 30th. The Associated Press
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway - Race Line-Up
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