Carl Edwards, seeking to improve his final point’s position this year in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series, won the pole at a record speed of 136.389mph. It was his third pole of the year.
“I didn’t think our car could be that fast,” Edwards said shortly after getting out of his Ford Fusion. “Bob Osborne [his crew chief, NDLR] forecast what it was going to do. The first pit stall will help us and, hopefully, I can race mistake free.”
AJ Allmendinger was surprisingly second quick at 136.250 mph as the saga of the embattled RPM team continued. His team’s haulers had to wait at Texas Motor Speedway until Wednesday afternoon before heading out to Phoenix.
While Allmendinger was the provisional pole sitter, he acknowledged that his crew never gave up in spite of the financial turmoil: “I’m proud of everybody at RPM. It’s a tough time for all of us. It’s a lot easier to sell the team from up front than in the back.”
Kurt Busch, who qualified third, said: “It was a great shot in the arm for the team to go out early and post a good time for the team.”
While Carl Edwards has been eliminated from winning the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, he still is trying to improve his final standings.
“If we can finish fourth in points, that’s a heck of a job for what I feel like we had. For us, there’s a lot of pride in that – for me there personally is – and when you go back and look at history it looks nicer to finish fourth and third and second. You’ve got to have goals and this is our goal right now.”
The three leading drivers in the Championship standings again struggled in qualifying. Series point’s leader, Denny Hamlin qualified a lowly 17th, but he still beat contenders Jimmie Johnson, 21rst, and Kevin Harvick, 29th.
Jason Leffler, Michael McDowell and Joe Nemechek failed to qualify for the 43-car field.
“I didn’t think our car could be that fast,” Edwards said shortly after getting out of his Ford Fusion. “Bob Osborne [his crew chief, NDLR] forecast what it was going to do. The first pit stall will help us and, hopefully, I can race mistake free.”
AJ Allmendinger was surprisingly second quick at 136.250 mph as the saga of the embattled RPM team continued. His team’s haulers had to wait at Texas Motor Speedway until Wednesday afternoon before heading out to Phoenix.
While Allmendinger was the provisional pole sitter, he acknowledged that his crew never gave up in spite of the financial turmoil: “I’m proud of everybody at RPM. It’s a tough time for all of us. It’s a lot easier to sell the team from up front than in the back.”
Kurt Busch, who qualified third, said: “It was a great shot in the arm for the team to go out early and post a good time for the team.”
While Carl Edwards has been eliminated from winning the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, he still is trying to improve his final standings.
“If we can finish fourth in points, that’s a heck of a job for what I feel like we had. For us, there’s a lot of pride in that – for me there personally is – and when you go back and look at history it looks nicer to finish fourth and third and second. You’ve got to have goals and this is our goal right now.”
The three leading drivers in the Championship standings again struggled in qualifying. Series point’s leader, Denny Hamlin qualified a lowly 17th, but he still beat contenders Jimmie Johnson, 21rst, and Kevin Harvick, 29th.
Jason Leffler, Michael McDowell and Joe Nemechek failed to qualify for the 43-car field.