Kurt Busch won his third consecutive pole in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, finishing first in qualifying Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn with a lap of 188.699 mph. He is the first driver to win three consecutive poles since Brian Vickers in 2009, and two qualifying sessions were canceled during that streak. The last person to win three poles in three races was Ryan Newman in 2007.
David Reutimann (188.684 mph) was second in qualifying, and Matt Kenseth (188.620) was third. Los Angeles Times
“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.”
Busch said all three tracks “are fairly close to each other,” but that didn’t diminish his 15th career pole from being “a special accomplishment.
“It’s just a feather in the cap for the guys for working as hard as they are building the cars, making the changes behind the scenes and to be that close on the setup every week,” Busch said. “In this game, you’ve got to be on it to qualify, and it’s been a great feeling these last three weeks.” USA Today
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.
Other notable drivers and their starting positions include: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (15th), Trevor Bayne (17th), Jimmie Johnson (21st), Kevin Harvick (22nd), points leader Carl Edwards (23rd), Kyle Busch (24th) and Jeff Gordon (31st). MiamiHerald.com
POS DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR 1 Kurt Busch Dodge Shell / Pennzoil 2 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 3 Matt Kenseth Ford Crown Royal 4 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 5 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies 6 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot / Mobil 1 7 Greg Biffle Ford American Red Cross 8 Kasey Kahne Toyota Red Bull 9 Paul Menard Chevrolet Pittsburgh Paints / Menards 10 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Office 11 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 12 Landon Cassill Chevrolet Thank A Teacher Today / Security Benefit 13 Ryan Newman Chevrolet U.S. Army 236th Birthday 14 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet McDonald's 15 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy / National Guard 16 Bobby Labonte Toyota RainEater / Advance Auto Parts 17 Trevor Bayne Ford Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center 18 Marcos Ambrose Ford Dewalt 19 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 20 David Ragan Ford UPS "We Love Logistics" 21 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's / Kobalt Tools 22 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Budweiser 23 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 24 Kyle Busch Toyota Snickers 25 Juan Montoya Chevrolet "Cars 2" 26 A.J. Allmendinger Ford Best Buy 27 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Fellowship of Christian Athletes 29 Joe Nemechek Toyota NEMCO Motorsports 30 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 31 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Drive to End Hunger 32 David Stremme Chevrolet Inception Motorsports 33 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 34 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Red Line Oil 35 Mike Bliss Ford blu Cigs 36 Andy Lally* Ford TRG Motorsports 37 Robby Gordon Dodge Speed Energy 38 Michael McDowell Toyota HP Racing LLC 39 Casey Mears Toyota GEICO 40 David Gilliland Ford Taco Bell 41 Brad Keselowski Dodge Miller Lite 42 Dave Blaney+ Chevrolet Golden Corral 43 Scott Riggs Chevrolet WhitneysColli
| 
|