Kyle Busch turns fastest lap at Pocono for 2nd straight pole
LONG POND, Pa: Kyle Busch turned a lap of 179.151 mph to win the pole at Pocono Raceway.
Busch had the fastest lap Friday to win a NASCAR Cup pole for the second straight week. Busch won the pole at Dover International Speedway.
Busch turned a lap of 179.151 mph on Friday to win the pole at Pocono Raceway.
Busch’s run at Dover was derailed when a tire came off the No. 18 Toyota during a pit stop. Busch crew chief Adams Stevens, tire carrier Kenny Barber and tire changer Jake Seminara were suspended four races for the infraction and will not be at Pocono. He won races at every active Cup track except Pocono and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Race engineer Ben Beshore is the interim crew chief.
Martin Truex Jr. starts second and Matt Kenseth third for a 1-2-3 start for Toyota. Ryan Blaney was fourth, followed by Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski, all Ford drivers.
Darrell Wallace Jr. starts 16th in the No. 43 Ford. He is the first black driver in a Cup race since 2006.
Busch has suddenly mastered the art of starting first. He won the pole last week at Dover International Speedway in a race that became derailed when a tire came off the No. 18 Toyota during a pit stop.
That is a big no-no in NASCAR and the Joe Gibbs Racing team was slapped with some big penalties. Busch crew chief Adam Stevens, tire carrier Kenny Barber and tire changer Jake Seminara were suspended four races for the infraction, and their punishments start at Pocono.
“I think it just shows Adam Stevens is able to prepare his team, prepare his cars,” Busch said. “You’ve got to have good personnel and Adam chooses all that. Joe gives us all the right tools we need in order to be successful.”
This might be a theme at Pocono — big brother Kurt Busch won this race last year with his crew chief serving a one-race suspension.
Martin Truex Jr. starts second and Matt Kenseth third for a 1-2-3 start for Toyota. Ryan Blaney was fourth, followed by Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski, all Ford drivers.
Darrell Wallace Jr. starts 16th in the No. 43 Ford and will become the first black driver in a Cup race since 2006. Wallace is filling in for injured driver Aric Almirola at Richard Petty Motorsports. Petty, who won 200 NASCAR races, stood by Wallace and offered encouragement.
“Hopefully, RP likes it,” Wallace said. “The King is over there smiling, I hope, maybe a little grin. A little fist bump like he gave me earlier would be good.”
The 23-year-old Wallace, the son of a white father and black mother, will join at least seven other black drivers in its 69-year history who reached the Cup level.