Juan Montoya sped around New Hampshire Motor Speedway in a track-record 28.545 seconds (133.431 mph) to win the pole for Sunday’s Sylvania 300, the first race in the Chase.
Montoya, who clinched his berth in NASCAR’s playoffs last Saturday at Richmond, starts the Chase 40 points behind Mark Martin, who qualified 14th in Friday’s time trials. Tony Stewart, the points leader through 26 events before the Chase field was re-seeded according to race wins, will start beside Montoya on the front row after a lap at 132.581 mph. NASCAR
“I think it’s nice to be able to run this good,” Montoya said. “A little lady luck on our side and we’ll be fine.
Montoya’s first pole came in April at Talladega. He will start the Chase in 11th place.
“I’m happy with the way we qualified,” Stewart said. “When we qualify good here, we normally race good here.”
Kurt Busch matched Stewart’s qualifying time, but will start third by virtue of his current points ranking of seventh. MiamiHerald.com
POS CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 2 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 3 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 4 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 5 99 Carl Edwards Ford 6 12 David Stremme Dodge 7 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 8 171 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 9 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 10 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 11 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 12 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 13 0 David Reutimann Toyota 14 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 15 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 17 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 18 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 19 7 Casey Mears Chevrolet 20 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota 21 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 22 16 Greg Biffle Ford 23 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 24 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 25 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge 26 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 27 82 Scott Speed* Toyota 28 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 29 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 30 64 Mike Wallace Toyota 31 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 32 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 33 20 Joey Logano* Toyota 34 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 35 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 36 37 Tony Raines Dodge 37 96 Erik Darnell Ford 38 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 39 9 Aric Almirola Dodge 40 98 Paul Menard Ford 41 34 John Andretti Chevrolet 42 6 David Ragan+ Ford 43 36 Michael McDowell Toyota
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