Daytona 500 winner, Jamie McMurray, set a Darlington record of 180.370 mph as he claimed his second pole of year in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series.
The 1.333 mile egg-shaped oval lived up to its’ nickname, “The Track Too Tough To Tame,” claiming a number to top cars in practice, but, that didn’t intimidate McMurray who recorded his fifth career pole.
“This is one of those race tracks you really can't be too aggressive or you'll get into the wall,” McMurray said. He added, “I was pretty impressed with the amount of grip that the car had through turns one and two. Bono (Kevin Manion, crew chief) had come on the radio just before I went out and said everybody was getting through one and two pretty good but they were losing it in three and four. So, I was maybe a little bit too conservative in turns three and four, but it was still enough. It was a really good lap for us."
Despite earning a Darlington stripe in practice he was undeterred when it counted. “I did get into the fence today but, it's one of those things where you know you are going to hit for a long time and you are just trying to whoa the car down as much as you can so you do the least amount of damage,” added McMurray who drives the EGR Chevy.
Second fastest, at 180.323 mph, was four-time Cup Champ, and seven-time Darlington winner, Jeff Gordon, who said, “the car was perfect. The car was better than the driver was right there. We've been getting a little bit loose over there off of (turn) two. The car stuck better than I thought it was going to. I committed to the entry and got it through the middle. I think I wimped out a little bit on the exit. From that point on, I thought we still had a good lap going and just didn't want to mess it up in three and four.”
Brian Vickers was third fastest at 179.987 mph and last driver to break Matt Kenseth’s qualifying record of 179.514mph, in a Toyota. He’s joined on the second row by the Toyota of David Reutimann.
Series points leader Kevin Harvick struggled, ending up 35th. Australia’s, Marcos Ambrose, was seventh fastest and fastest of the seven drivers who had to go backups due to crashes in practice.
Joe Nemechek, Casey Mears and Mike Bliss failed to qualify for the 43-car field.
Denny Hamlin held off JGR teammate, Kyle Busch, and McMurray in Friday night’s 200 mile Nationwide race. Brad Keselowski, who finished seventh, holds a 55-point lead over Busch.
The 1.333 mile egg-shaped oval lived up to its’ nickname, “The Track Too Tough To Tame,” claiming a number to top cars in practice, but, that didn’t intimidate McMurray who recorded his fifth career pole.
“This is one of those race tracks you really can't be too aggressive or you'll get into the wall,” McMurray said. He added, “I was pretty impressed with the amount of grip that the car had through turns one and two. Bono (Kevin Manion, crew chief) had come on the radio just before I went out and said everybody was getting through one and two pretty good but they were losing it in three and four. So, I was maybe a little bit too conservative in turns three and four, but it was still enough. It was a really good lap for us."
Despite earning a Darlington stripe in practice he was undeterred when it counted. “I did get into the fence today but, it's one of those things where you know you are going to hit for a long time and you are just trying to whoa the car down as much as you can so you do the least amount of damage,” added McMurray who drives the EGR Chevy.
Second fastest, at 180.323 mph, was four-time Cup Champ, and seven-time Darlington winner, Jeff Gordon, who said, “the car was perfect. The car was better than the driver was right there. We've been getting a little bit loose over there off of (turn) two. The car stuck better than I thought it was going to. I committed to the entry and got it through the middle. I think I wimped out a little bit on the exit. From that point on, I thought we still had a good lap going and just didn't want to mess it up in three and four.”
Brian Vickers was third fastest at 179.987 mph and last driver to break Matt Kenseth’s qualifying record of 179.514mph, in a Toyota. He’s joined on the second row by the Toyota of David Reutimann.
Series points leader Kevin Harvick struggled, ending up 35th. Australia’s, Marcos Ambrose, was seventh fastest and fastest of the seven drivers who had to go backups due to crashes in practice.
Joe Nemechek, Casey Mears and Mike Bliss failed to qualify for the 43-car field.
Denny Hamlin held off JGR teammate, Kyle Busch, and McMurray in Friday night’s 200 mile Nationwide race. Brad Keselowski, who finished seventh, holds a 55-point lead over Busch.