Matt Kenseth will be on the pole but all eyes will be on Tony Stewart, starting eighth and Carl Edwards starting ninth in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Saturday’s qualifying speeds were down considerably from Friday’s best practice laps as drivers found the track lacking grip. Even so, Kenseth came close to the track record of 137.28 mph in winning his third pole of the season.
“The cars were a lot looser than (Friday),” Kenseth said. “It’s been kind of a moving target for me. The first practice (on Friday), I thought the track was a lot different than the last practice when it was almost dark. Conditions were different (for qualifying), being in the middle of the day and warmer.” USA Today
Marcos Ambrose (136.307 mph), Allmendinger’s teammate at Richard Petty Motorsports, qualified third, followed by Mark Martin and Martin Truex Jr., who ran identical speeds (136.080 mph).
With the sun out Saturday, and the track considerably hotter, drivers ran roughly a full second slower on average than they had Friday, and none bettered Edwards’ record.
Allmendinger was shocked at how much the track changed from one day to the next.
“It was definitely a huge surprise,” he said. “Obviously, the sun is out and it’s warmer, but for as much grip as the track had [Friday], you would think maybe it would be [just] a little slower. At night last night I think the quick time was like a 25.50 by Carl, so to be almost a second slower was a huge surprise. NASCAR.com
POS CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 2 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 3 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 4 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 5 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 6 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 7 0 David Reutimann Toyota 8 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 9 99 Carl Edwards Ford 10 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 11 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 12 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 13 6 David Ragan Ford 14 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 15 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 17 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 18 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 19 84 Cole Whitt Toyota 20 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 21 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 22 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 23 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 24 46 Scott Speed Ford 25 20 Joey Logano Toyota 26 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 27 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 28 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 29 16 Greg Biffle Ford 30 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 31 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 32 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 33 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 34 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 35 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 36 37 Mike Skinner Ford 37 55 Travis Kvapil Ford 38 13 Casey Mears Toyota 39 32 Mike Bliss Ford 40 36 Geoffrey Bodine+ Chevrolet 41 38 J.J. Yeley+ Ford 42 34 David Gilliland+ Ford 43 135 Dave Blaney Chevrolet
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