Us
Print
E-mail
Rate
Kahne takes pole at Pocono
Johnson loses pole late, will start race second.
By JENNA FRYER
Associated Press
LONG POND, Pa. — Kasey Kahne continued his midseason turnaround Friday by winning his first pole of the year at Pocono Raceway.
Now Kahne hopes to parlay it into his second Sprint Cup Series win of the season.
Still riding the momentum from a recent wins in the All-Star and Coca-Cola 600 races, Kahne hopes to parlay his front row starting spot into his second points win of the season.
“To me, if you qualify well at this race track, you race pretty well,” Kahne said. “Doesn’t mean we’re going to run first, but I think we can run in the top 10. Track position will be big, and we’re starting up front.”
Kahne ran a lap at
170.219 mph in his No. 9 Dodge to knock Jimmie Johnson off the top starting spot. It was his second pole win at Pocono — he set the track record here in 2004 with a lap of 172.533.
Johnson, the first driver to make his qualifying run, ran a lap at 169.856 to hold down the pole for most of the session. Kahne went out 31st and grabbed the pole away from him.
Mark Martin qualified third with a lap at 168.987. Regan Smith, Martin’s teammate at DEI, was fourth. Joe Nemechek was fifth and was followed by Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., AJ Allmendinger and Scott Riggs.
Kyle Busch, who will attempt to become the first driver in history to race in all three national series at three different tracks on the same weekend,
qualified 10th and hopped on a plane headed for the Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
“We just need a good starting spot for Sunday,” said Busch, the points
leader. “We’re not all that happy with the way things have gone here this
weekend. We’ve got some work to do.”
Kurt Busch was 11th and followed by Tony Stewart, Busch’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Terry Labonte, making his first start of the season as a fill-in driver for Kyle Petty, used a past
champion provisional to make the field.
Only 44 cars were on the entry list, so only one driver was headed home and J.J. Yeley lost that
race. He failed to qualify for the second time this season.
Now Kahne hopes to parlay it into his second Sprint Cup Series win of the season.
Still riding the momentum from a recent wins in the All-Star and Coca-Cola 600 races, Kahne hopes to parlay his front row starting spot into his second points win of the season.
“To me, if you qualify well at this race track, you race pretty well,” Kahne said. “Doesn’t mean we’re going to run first, but I think we can run in the top 10. Track position will be big, and we’re starting up front.”
Kahne ran a lap at
170.219 mph in his No. 9 Dodge to knock Jimmie Johnson off the top starting spot. It was his second pole win at Pocono — he set the track record here in 2004 with a lap of 172.533.
Johnson, the first driver to make his qualifying run, ran a lap at 169.856 to hold down the pole for most of the session. Kahne went out 31st and grabbed the pole away from him.
Mark Martin qualified third with a lap at 168.987. Regan Smith, Martin’s teammate at DEI, was fourth. Joe Nemechek was fifth and was followed by Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., AJ Allmendinger and Scott Riggs.
Kyle Busch, who will attempt to become the first driver in history to race in all three national series at three different tracks on the same weekend,
qualified 10th and hopped on a plane headed for the Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
“We just need a good starting spot for Sunday,” said Busch, the points
leader. “We’re not all that happy with the way things have gone here this
weekend. We’ve got some work to do.”
Kurt Busch was 11th and followed by Tony Stewart, Busch’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Terry Labonte, making his first start of the season as a fill-in driver for Kyle Petty, used a past
champion provisional to make the field.
Only 44 cars were on the entry list, so only one driver was headed home and J.J. Yeley lost that
race. He failed to qualify for the second time this season.
 |
 |
|
| Big Brown patched up, ready to make run at Triple Crown | Ivanovic advances to face Safina in French Open final |
