Suarez nabs top spot at Kentucky
Custer holds off Bell to win in Xfinity Series
Daniel Suarez couldn’t wait to see what strong practice sessions would yield in provisional qualifying at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta.
His confidence culminated in a frontrow sweep for Stewart- Haas Racing. The field will not be finalized until cars pass inspection Saturday prior to the night race.
Suarez turned a lap at 184.590 mph in his SHR Ford to grab the top starting spot. If it stands after inspection, it will be Suarez’s second pole in 91 career starts. He bumped teammate Aric Almirola to the outside front row in qualifying.
“Pretty much the whole day has been pretty smooth,” Suarez said. “We’ve been very quick. We haven’t done a lot. My car was fast out of the box, so I feel very good about it.
“Hopefully we can keep up track position because track position will be huge tomorrow night.”
The 2016 Xfinity Series champion and first NASCAR champion from Mexico has made seven top- 10 starts in 18 races this season, most recently fifth in the recent road- course race at Sonoma, Calif.
More important is earning his first career Cup victory, especially after three runs of 17th or worse — including 40th Sunday at Daytona following an accident.
“We have had fast race cars but we cannot close the deal,” Suarez said. “I feel like we are getting better and better and bringing faster race cars to the track but we have to take advantage of those situations. Hopefully we run a smart race and make it happen.”
Three- time Kentucky winner Brad Keselowski completed a top- three sweep for Ford, finishing third. Kurt Busch was fourth in a Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing while SHR driver Kevin Harvick made it four Fords in the top five.
“That was our best qualifying effort on a mile- and- a- half this year,” Keselowski said of his run. “That is something to be proud of. I didn’t quite have the speed to get the pole. I would have liked a later draw. I think there would have been some speed there.”
Two- time defending race winner Martin Truex Jr. was eighth and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch 10th as the only Toyotas in the top 10.
Xfinity Series
Cole Custer grabbed an Xfinity Serieshigh fifth victory of the season Friday night with a win over Christopher Bell at Kentucky.
It was Custer who dominated by leading 88 of the 200 laps in a Ford for StewartHaas Racing. He took the lead for the final time on lap 155 and beat Bell by 1.651 seconds.
Michael Annett and Chase Briscoe completed the top five.
Custer now has won consecutive races on 1.5- mile tracks after his win at Chicago two weeks ago. He has won three of the past six races.
IndyCar
A year after a devastating spinal cord injury in a race at Pocono at Long Pond, Pa., Indycar driver Robert Wickens will lead the parade lap Sunday before the Toronto IndyCar event in a car equipped with hand controls.