Braun captures Nationwide Series pole in Mexico City
 |
| Colin Braun poses with his pole-winning 3M Ford Fusion. |
| Getty Images for NASCAR |
19-year-old Colin Braun driving a Roush Fenway Racing Ford, backed up that assertion on Saturday afternoon, posting a lap of 102.756 mph to take the pole for Sunday’s Corona Mexico 200 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course in Mexico City.
Braun is a rookie in the Craftsman Truck Series, where he is 20th in points. But road-course racing is his true area of expertise, and the former Grand-Am driver could see his biggest spotlight yet in Mexico City.
“I just think he’s unbelievable," Edwards said. “I believe he is the guy to beat [Sunday] in this race."
Responded Braun: “I’m sure I’ll be getting an invoice in the mail from Boris and Carl here pretty soon to say those good things about me. I don’t know how much the pole pays, but I hope it’s enough to cover that."
Lineup
|
POS |
CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 16 | Colin Braun | Ford | 3M | 102.756 | 88.217 | Leader |
| 2 | 40 | Scott Pruett | Dodge | Fastenal | 102.651 | 88.307 | -0.090 |
| 3 | 60 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Scotts Water Smart | 102.506 | 88.432 | -0.215 |
| 4 | 59 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Kingsford Hickory Charcoal | 102.312 | 88.600 | -0.383 |
| 5 | 25 | Boris Said | Ford | No Fear / Team Smithfield / Advance Auto Parts | 102.075 | 88.805 | -0.588 |
| 6 | 20 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Doosan Infracore | 101.922 | 88.939 | -0.722 |
| 7 | 9 | Patrick Carpentier* | Dodge | Auto Value | 101.775 | 89.067 | -0.850 |
| 8 | 2 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | BB&T | 101.749 | 89.090 | -0.873 |
| 9 | 111 | Jason Keller | Chevrolet | America's Incredible Pizza Company | 101.716 | 89.119 | -0.902 |
| 10 | 186 | Antonio Perez | Dodge | Telmex / Chivas Racing | 101.669 | 89.160 | -0.943 |
| 11 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Penske Truck Rental | 101.560 | 89.256 | -1.039 |
| 12 | 66 | Steve Wallace | Chevrolet | Atreus Homes & Communities | 101.520 | 89.291 | -1.074 |
| 13 | 27 | Brad Coleman | Ford | Carino's Italian Grill | 101.470 | 89.335 | -1.118 |
| 14 | 17 | Erik Darnell | Ford | CitiFinancial | 101.395 | 89.401 | -1.184 |
| 15 | 33 | Ron Hornaday | Chevrolet | RoadLoans.com | 101.374 | 89.419 | -1.202 |
| 16 | 22 | Ruben Pardo | Dodge | Bombardier Learjet / Telcel | 101.297 | 89.487 | -1.270 |
| 17 | 64 | Max Papis | Chevrolet | Atreus Homes & Communities | 101.272 | 89.509 | -1.292 |
| 18 | 47 | Kelly Bires | Ford | Clorox | 101.271 | 89.510 | -1.293 |
| 19 | 7 | Mike Wallace | Toyota | GEICO | 101.214 | 89.561 | -1.344 |
| 20 | 32 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Toyota | Visit Durango / Visit Mexico | 101.093 | 89.668 | -1.451 |
| 21 | 29 | Scott Wimmer | Chevrolet | Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express | 100.962 | 89.784 | -1.567 |
| 22 | 37 | Rafael Martinez | Ford | Scotiabank Inverlat / Canel's | 100.820 | 89.911 | -1.694 |
| 23 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | Discount Tire | 100.820 | 89.911 | -1.694 |
| 24 | 1 | Mike Bliss | Chevrolet | Miccosukee Resort & Gaming | 100.765 | 89.960 | -1.743 |
| 25 | 41 | Kyle Krisiloff | Dodge | Polaroid | 100.717 | 90.003 | -1.786 |
| 26 | 28 | Kenny Wallace | Chevrolet | Reel Deal "Card Games" on Phantom EFX | 100.353 | 90.329 | -2.112 |
| 27 | 24 | Brian Simo | Chevrolet | Hefty | 100.285 | 90.390 | -2.173 |
| 28 | 88 | Brad Keselowski | Chevrolet | U.S. Navy | 100.214 | 90.454 | -2.237 |
| 29 | 184 | Jose Luis Ramirez | Dodge | The Perfect Game / Rayere | 100.183 | 90.482 | -2.265 |
| 30 | 81 | D.J. Kennington | Dodge | MC2 Energy Drink / NPPL | 100.171 | 90.493 | -2.276 |
| 31 | 90 | Chris Cook | Chevrolet | Drifting Mexico | 100.106 | 90.552 | -2.335 |
| 32 | 5 | David Green | Chevrolet | Lowe's | 100.015 | 90.634 | -2.417 |
| 33 | 99 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron's Dream Machine | 99.953 | 90.691 | -2.474 |
| 34 | 109 | Kevin O'Connell | Chevrolet | Gen'l Environmental Mgmt / Taleo Grill | 99.795 | 90.834 | -2.617 |
| 35 | 30 | Stanton Barrett | Chevrolet | NOS Energy Drink / 4caring.org | 99.790 | 90.839 | -2.622 |
| 36 | 38 | Jason Leffler | Toyota | Great Clips | 99.758 | 90.868 | -2.651 |
| 37 | 198 | Alex Garcia | Chevrolet | Dixien / OmniSource Corp. | 99.367 | 91.225 | -3.008 |
| 38 | 331 | Kenny Hendrick | Chevrolet | INTERUSH / GrandStay.net | 98.866 | 91.688 | -3.471 |
| 39 | 01 | Kertus Davis | Chevrolet | RaceGirl | 98.050 | 92.451 | -4.234 |
| 40 | 52 | Scott Gaylord | Ford | Means Racing | 97.855 | 92.635 | -4.418 |
| 41 | 4 | Landon Cassill* | Chevrolet | Miccosukee Resort & Gaming | 97.770 | 92.716 | -4.499 |
| 42 | 161 | Kevin Lepage | Ford | Specialty Racing | 97.621 | 92.857 | -4.640 |
| 43 | 91 | Larry Gunselman | Chevrolet | MSRP Motorsports | 97.555 | 92.920 | -4.703 |
| Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 05 | Brett Rowe | Chevrolet | 31-W Insulation / CertainTeed | – | – | – |
| 45 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Dodge | Victory In Jesus | – | – | – |
| 46 | 149 | Derrike Cope | Chevrolet | Jay Robinson Inc. | – | – | – |