Kurt Busch takes pole on speedy day in Texas
FORT WORTH, Texas — On Friday, Kurt Busch went faster than anyone has ever gone in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on a 1.5-mile track. While out of championship contention and uncertain what team — if any — he will drive for next season, Busch is still trying to win races.
“The sensation of speed … it’s unbelievable,” he said.
Busch averaged a record 200.915 mph on his only lap in the final round of qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway. The Stewart-Haas driver was in one of the five cars that broke the 200-mph mark.
The other front-row spot went to Denny Hamlin, who is among the eight drivers still in the running for the title with two races left before the field is cut to four for the championship finale.
“Development, that’s the biggest thing. That’s just the biggest thing,” Hamlin said, when asked about the high qualifying speeds. “And trust me, I don’t know of any driver that is comfortable running at the speed we’re running right now. Kevin Harvick walked by, and as soon as that was over, he said, ‘I’m glad that is over.’ It’s crazy speed.”
Busch said he saw an old friend Friday who had his two sons with him. The boys were in awe of the surroundings on pit road when Busch winked at them and gave a prophetic word.
“I said, ‘It’s going to be over 200 miles per hour today.’ And they were like ‘Whoa,’ and then I was able to back it up,” he said. “So I feel impressed.”
The top five all surpassed the previous qualifying record at the track, Tony Stewart’s 200.111 mph before the fall race there three years ago. Hamlin qualified at 200.617 mph, with Harvick (200.372 mph), Erik Jones (200.326 mph) and Kyle Busch (200.252 mph), Kurt’s brother, all eclipsing the big number on the high-banked oval. Hamlin, Harvick and Kyle Busch — the only driver already locked into a title shot at Homestead-Miami Speedway to close the season — are all in the playoff field.
Martin Truex Jr., leading in points, qualified seventh at 199.431 mph, directly ahead of fellow playoff drivers Ryan Blaney (199.380 mph), Jimmie Johnson (198.727 mph) and Brad Keselowski (198.478 mph) in the eighth through 10th spots.
The only championship contender starting outside the top 10 was Chase Elliott, who was among seven drivers who didn’t make any qualifying laps after not making it through tech inspection in time. He will start 34th Sunday.
Elliott was still frustrated Friday about what happened in this past Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway, where he was wrecked by Hamlin while leading two laps shy of the checkered flag.
Elliott said he hadn’t spoken with Hamlin, who had reached out by text and apologized publicly on social media for what he has called poor execution of an aggressive move.
“I don’t know that my thoughts today are a whole lot different than they were then,” Elliott said. “I am still pretty frustrated about it. … Definitely not happy about it, and I don’t think a whole lot has changed.”
Instead of the possible win that would have clinched a spot in NASCAR’s championship race, Elliott arrived at Texas eighth among the eight championship contenders and 26 points behind the top four. Hamlin is seventh in the standings, 18 points ahead of Elliott.
Their garage stalls are side by side this weekend.
Sauter secures spot
Johnny Sauter won the Camping World Truck Series race at Texas on Friday night to become the first driver earn a spot in the series championship finale in two weeks.
Sauter, 39, held off Austin Cindric, 19, for his third victory of the season and fourth of his career at the track.
The top three spots were filled by drivers still in the chase for the four-man championship showdown at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 17. Third-place Christopher Bell is second behind Sauter in the playoff standings.
Two of the playoff drivers made critical mistakes in the race. John Hunter Nemecheck was leading with 13 laps to go, but his car ran out of gas and he was required to pit. He was then given a penalty for speeding off of pit road and ended up finishing 19th.
Ben Rhodes was in the top 10 for much of the race, but a faulty pit stop with 17 laps to go dropped him into the back of the pack and he finished 18th. Matt Crafton, another playoff contender, finished ninth.