Touring the 1.366-mile egg-shaped circuit in 27.394 seconds (179.514 mph), Kenseth won the pole for Saturday night’s Southern 500, edging Jeff Gordon (178.861 mph) by a tenth of a second in a session that saw three-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson wreck in Turn 2 on his first lap.
Ryan Newman (178.757 mph) qualified third, followed by Sam Hornish Jr. (178.744 mph) and rookie Joey Logano (178.549 mph). NASCAR.com
Kenseth’s hopes his fourth career pole — and first since Kansas in October 2005 — leads to a rebound in confidence.
He won the Daytona 500 and then the next week at Auto Club Speedway in Los Angeles. However, he’s just one top 10 finish in the past eight races.
Kenseth had felt good during practice, then came an afternoon rain that threatened to wash off much of the grip Sprint Cup drivers had spent the morning laying down.
To Kenseth’s surprise, his car held its line and led to the quickest lap in Darlington’s 60-season history.
“It’s the most confident I’ve been in my car since, I don’t know,” Kenseth said. The Associated Press
POS CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 2 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 3 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 4 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 5 20 Joey Logano* Toyota 6 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 7 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 8 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 9 99 Carl Edwards Ford 10 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 11 16 Greg Biffle Ford 12 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 13 7 Casey Mears Chevrolet 14 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 15 6 David Ragan Ford 16 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 17 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 18 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 19 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 20 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 21 0 David Reutimann Toyota 22 113 Max Papis* Toyota 23 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 24 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 25 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 26 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 27 96 Bobby Labonte Ford 28 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 29 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 30 171 David Gilliland Chevrolet 31 25 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet 32 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota 33 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 34 12 David Stremme Dodge 35 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 36 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 37 36 Scott Riggs Toyota 38 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 39 34 Tony Raines Chevrolet 40 98 Paul Menard+ Ford 41 43 Reed Sorenson+ Dodge 42 48 Jimmie Johnson+ Chevrolet 43 9 Sterling Marlin Dodge
| 
|