The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A first for Blaney: No. 1 spot for start
Johnson, Earnhardt among 11 too late to make qualifying.
Ryan Blaney, in a Ford, earned his first career pole position for the NASCAR Cup race tonight at Kansas Speedway, taking advantage of a traffic jam at inspection that kept 11 cars from the track.
Among those who failed to get through Friday were Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne. That left only 28 cars eligible to contest the first round of qualifying.
Joey Logano will start second and Martin Truex Jr. third. Those who failed to get through will start at the back based on owner points.
NASCAR has watched tech stations closely this year. But the 11 cars parked at Kansas marked a high for the season.
NASCAR vice president of competition Scott Miller said most of the trouble has been at the laser inspection, which is a significant performance metric and an area where teams push the limits.
“It’s fairly disappointing that they can’t present their cars to pass inspection,” Miller said, adding that NASCAR gives teams leeway. “They want to be right on the limit and 11 of them were over the limit.”
Johnson, who will start 29th, said he’s good at passing cars and didn’t mind a break from the rigors of qualifying. Bowyer, who will start 30th, reacted differently.
“Super disappointing,” he said. “You’re off 10-thousandths of an inch? It’s ridiculous. Most people can’t even understand how little that is. I get it. If you’re off, you’re off, but I watched my guys move the car and adjust the car accordingly for it and then actually overcompensate on it because we were worried about not making it. Then they wheel it back in and fail the exact same amount? Twice? That makes no sense. None.”
IndyCar: Will Power won his third pole of the season, setting a qualifying record for the IndyCar Grand Prix. Power completed the 2.439mile road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1 minute, 7.7044 seconds, giving Roger Penske his 250th pole win as an IndyCar owner.
Penske drivers have won all five poles this season in Chevrolets, plus two races, and took four of the top five spots for today’s race. Helio Castroneves, who has won the other two poles, will join Power on the front row.
Formula One: McLaren’s season sank to a new low at the Spanish Grand Prix when Fernando Alonso’s first lap of practice ended with a puff of smoke and a pool of engine fluid. Alonso, who a day earlier told the team he would quit by October if his cars did not improve, blamed Honda, the engine maker.