Martin Truex Jr. shrugged off a penalty assessed by NASCAR to his team earlier this week by winning the pole for Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Truex turned a lap at 135.120 m.p.h. (26.643 seconds) for his third pole of the season and the fourth of his Sprint Cup Series career. He won the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500 and the fall night-time race at Atlanta earlier this year. MiamiHerald.com
“It was a great lap. I’ve just got to thank all the guys on my team for their hard word. The Rain-X Chevy was awesome. I love coming out here to Phoenix and think Sunday is going to be a good day for us.” said Truex.
Kurt Busch, who went out 33rd, claimed the second spot at 134.579 mph, with Johnson (134.454 mph) holding the third starting position.
Kasey Kahne (134.293 mph) qualified fourth, and Denny Hamlin was fifth at 134.228 mph. Mark Martin, who trails Johnson by 73 points with two races left in the Chase, will start 10th. Jeff Gordon, third in points and 112 behind Johnson, earned the 14th starting position. NASCAR
POS CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 2 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 4 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 5 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 6 16 Greg Biffle Ford 7 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 8 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 9 7 Casey Mears Chevrolet 10 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 11 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 12 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 13 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 14 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 15 0 David Reutimann Toyota 16 44 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 17 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 18 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 19 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 20 171 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 21 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 22 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 23 113 Max Papis* Toyota 24 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 25 99 Carl Edwards Ford 26 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge 27 20 Joey Logano* Toyota 28 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 29 9 David Gilliland Chevrolet 30 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 31 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 32 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 33 6 David Ragan Ford 34 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota 35 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 36 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 37 82 Scott Speed* Toyota 38 36 Michael McDowell Toyota 39 96 Erik Darnell Ford 40 43 Reed Sorenson+ Dodge 41 98 Paul Menard+ Ford 42 34 John Andretti+ Chevrolet 43 37 Tony Raines Chevrolet
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