Kurt Busch puts backup car on pole at Pocono
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| Kurt Busch |
Kurt Busch called it “an amazing swing of events." One day after crashing his primary car during practice, the Penske Racing driver raced his way to the pole for Sunday’s 5-Hour Energy 500 at Pocono Raceway.
Forced to go to a backup car after he made contact with the wall during the second practice session Friday, Busch nailed down his 14th career pole, and his second consecutive No. 1 starting spot, with a lap of 171.579 mph Saturday under overcast skies at the 2.5-mile track.
“Quite a bit of emotions today, especially [after] having to bust out the backup car from yesterday’s mishap," the 32-year-old Busch said. “To go out there today … the weather held out [and] we’re up on the pole."
Paul Menard (Richard Childress Racing), Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports), Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Regan Smith (Furniture Row Racing) completed the top five.
Results
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 171.579 | 52.454 | Leader |
| 2 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Pittsburgh Paints / Menards | 171.422 | 52.502 | -0.048 |
| 3 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont | 171.350 | 52.524 | -0.070 |
| 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Ground | 171.174 | 52.578 | -0.124 |
| 5 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 171.165 | 52.581 | -0.127 |
| 6 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Kellogg's / Cheez-it | 171.057 | 52.614 | -0.160 |
| 7 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Stanley | 170.836 | 52.682 | -0.228 |
| 8 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Haas Automation | 170.532 | 52.776 | -0.322 |
| 9 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron's Dream Machine | 170.348 | 52.833 | -0.379 |
| 10 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | Farmers Insurance / GoDaddy.com | 170.200 | 52.879 | -0.425 |
| 11 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS "We Love Logistics" | 170.177 | 52.886 | -0.432 |
| 12 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Cheerios / Hamburger Helper | 170.126 | 52.902 | -0.448 |
| 13 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | McDonald's | 169.908 | 52.970 | -0.516 |
| 14 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's | 169.872 | 52.981 | -0.527 |
| 15 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Office Depot | 169.856 | 52.986 | -0.532 |
| 16 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 169.702 | 53.034 | -0.580 |
| 17 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | Red Bull | 169.671 | 53.044 | -0.590 |
| 18 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Clorox / Kleenex | 169.607 | 53.064 | -0.610 |
| 19 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 169.520 | 53.091 | -0.637 |
| 20 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 169.501 | 53.097 | -0.643 |
| 21 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | National Guard / Amp Energy | 169.447 | 53.114 | -0.660 |
| 22 | 46 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | Red Line Oil | 169.444 | 53.115 | -0.661 |
| 23 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 169.441 | 53.116 | -0.662 |
| 24 | 71 | Andy Lally* | Ford | TRG Motorsports | 169.370 | 53.138 | -0.684 |
| 25 | 51 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | Thank A Teacher Today / Security Benefit | 169.307 | 53.158 | -0.704 |
| 26 | 38 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Ford | Long John Silver's | 169.278 | 53.167 | -0.713 |
| 27 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Affliction Clothing: Live Fast | 169.224 | 53.184 | -0.730 |
| 28 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Medallion Financial | 169.176 | 53.199 | -0.745 |
| 29 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AMFMEnergy.com / Pellet & Wood Stoves | 169.170 | 53.201 | -0.747 |
| 30 | 34 | David Gilliland | Ford | Taco Bell | 169.119 | 53.217 | -0.763 |
| 31 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 169.113 | 53.219 | -0.765 |
| 32 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Okuma | 169.084 | 53.228 | -0.774 |
| 33 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 168.932 | 53.276 | -0.822 |
| 34 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M's | 168.890 | 53.289 | -0.835 |
| 35 | 13 | Casey Mears | Toyota | GEICO | 168.666 | 53.360 | -0.906 |
| 36 | 66 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | HP Racing LLC | 168.218 | 53.502 | -1.048 |
| 37 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M | 167.773 | 53.644 | -1.190 |
| 38 | 37 | Tony Raines | Ford | Black Cat Fireworks | 167.395 | 53.765 | -1.311 |
| 39 | 181 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | WhitneysCollision.com | 167.264 | 53.807 | -1.353 |
| 40 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Golden Corral | 167.057 | 53.874 | -1.420 |
| 41 | 32 | Mike Bliss | Ford | U.S. Chrome / Southern Pride Trucking | 166.867 | 53.935 | -1.481 |
| 42 | 7 | Scott Wimmer+ | Dodge | Speed Energy / Harris Teeter | 162.414 | 55.414 | -2.960 |
| 43 | 150 | T.J. Bell* | Toyota | Green Smoke | 166.633 | 54.011 | -1.557 |
| . | . | Did Not Qualify | . | . | . | . | . |
| 44 | 60 | Mike Skinner | Toyota | Big Red | 164.902 | 54.578 | -2.124 |
+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie