Teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth grabbed the front row for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.
“I don’t think that could have gone any better,” said Biffle, the pole sitter. “I tell you what: this team has needed it. We have great cars and I can’t say enough for (crew chief) Matt Puccia and this No. 16 team. They work really hard and I am proud of them.
“All of a sudden Matt is becoming a hell of a qualifier. He makes fun of himself when he gets up there and says that the throttle sticks. What a great job for the whole Ford camp,” added Biffle.
Biffle's speed was 190.345mph, a mere 27 hundredths of a second quicker than his Roush-Fenway Racing teammate. It was RFR’s 10th overall sweep of the front row and first at MIS.
Kenseth was a little chagrined: “It was a good lap,” he said. “We had a lot of speed and honestly I wish I wouldn’t have watched Greg’s lap and saw his lap time.
“If I hadn’t tried so hard I might have had a shot at it. That is pretty fast. I was loose coming to the green and drove into too hard on purpose to make sure my car stayed loaded up and tight enough and got in there a car length too hard.
“Other than that, it was a good lap for us. It had a lot of speed and since we got here, it is the same car we ran last time, which was real fast. Hopefully we can drive it a little better for Sunday and be up there again.”
Ryan Newman qualified third, in a Chevrolet. Denny Hamlin will start fourth in a Toyota. 189.294 mph). In third row is the ageless Mark Martin alongside Brad Keselowski’s Dodge.
Series points leader, Kyle Busch, will start 17th and runner-up Carl Edwards will take the green flag from 22nd place.
Johnny Sauter, Erik Darnell and T.J. Bell failed to make the 43-car field.
“I don’t think that could have gone any better,” said Biffle, the pole sitter. “I tell you what: this team has needed it. We have great cars and I can’t say enough for (crew chief) Matt Puccia and this No. 16 team. They work really hard and I am proud of them.
“All of a sudden Matt is becoming a hell of a qualifier. He makes fun of himself when he gets up there and says that the throttle sticks. What a great job for the whole Ford camp,” added Biffle.
Biffle's speed was 190.345mph, a mere 27 hundredths of a second quicker than his Roush-Fenway Racing teammate. It was RFR’s 10th overall sweep of the front row and first at MIS.
Kenseth was a little chagrined: “It was a good lap,” he said. “We had a lot of speed and honestly I wish I wouldn’t have watched Greg’s lap and saw his lap time.
“If I hadn’t tried so hard I might have had a shot at it. That is pretty fast. I was loose coming to the green and drove into too hard on purpose to make sure my car stayed loaded up and tight enough and got in there a car length too hard.
“Other than that, it was a good lap for us. It had a lot of speed and since we got here, it is the same car we ran last time, which was real fast. Hopefully we can drive it a little better for Sunday and be up there again.”
Ryan Newman qualified third, in a Chevrolet. Denny Hamlin will start fourth in a Toyota. 189.294 mph). In third row is the ageless Mark Martin alongside Brad Keselowski’s Dodge.
Series points leader, Kyle Busch, will start 17th and runner-up Carl Edwards will take the green flag from 22nd place.
Johnny Sauter, Erik Darnell and T.J. Bell failed to make the 43-car field.