Late draw leads to Kansas pole for Allmendinger
NASCAR Wire Service
Distributed by The Sports Xchange
KANSAS CITY, Kan.-- Despite a late draw on a slick track that warmed throughout Saturday's qualifying session, AJ Allmendinger claimed the pole for Sunday's STP 400 at Kansas Speedway, posting a lap at 175.993 mph (30.683 seconds).
In winning the second Coors Light pole award of his career, his first since 2010 at Phoenix and his first since joining Penske Racing this season, Allmendinger edged Kevin Harvick (175.747 mph) by .043 seconds at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway, which will begin a facelift -- repaving and reconfiguration- -- as soon as Sunday's race is over.
Joey Logano, the first driver to make a qualifying run, was third fastest at 175.724 mph but must start from the rear on Sunday because of an engine change during Friday's practice session. Denny Hamlin, Logano's teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, claimed the fourth starting spot at 175.667 mph, with Mark Martin (175.484 mph) posting the fifth-fastest lap.
In a disappointing session for the Fords, NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Greg Biffle qualified 17th at 174.706 mph, the fastest of all Ford drivers.
After finishing second at Martinsville to Ryan Newman in the sixth Cup race of the season, Allmendinger was gratified to continue the momentum for his No. 22 Penske Racing team.
"More than anything, I put so much pressure on my shoulders to go out there and perform," Allmendinger said. "They (his Penske team) are used to winning, running up front, getting poles. It's good just to build momentum.
"So, hopefully, we have a solid 400 miles. It's good, but we know the bigger picture's on Sunday, and I'm happy to be part of the team."
Harvick knew he had a good lap going but said he might have gotten overly excited in the second set of corners.
"That might have cost us the pole, but overall it's been a great year for us qualifying-wise so far," Harvick said. "The cars have been fast every week, and as soon as we put together a whole weekend without me making a mistake or things not going exactly right, I think everything's going to come together nicely.
"So I'm pretty happy with the way everything's gone so far this year."
Tim Andrews, Jeff Green and Tony Raines failed to qualify for the 43-car field.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying - STP 400
Kansas Speedway
Kansas City, Kansas
Saturday, April 21, 2012
1. (22) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 175.993 mph.
2. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 175.747 mph.
3. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 175.724 mph.
4. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 175.667 mph.
5. (55) Mark Martin, Toyota, 175.484 mph.
6. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 175.444 mph.
7. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 175.313 mph.
8. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 175.302 mph.
9. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 175.092 mph.
10. (12) Sam Hornish Jr.(i), Dodge, 175.086 mph.
11. (2) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 175.063 mph.
12. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 174.927 mph.
13. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 174.887 mph.
14. (51) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 174.876 mph.
15. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 174.803 mph.
16. (10) David Reutimann, Chevrolet, 174.803 mph.
17. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 174.706 mph.
18. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 174.486 mph.
19. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 174.323 mph.
20. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 174.261 mph.
21. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 174.244 mph.
22. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 174.171 mph.
23. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 174.143 mph.
24. (30) David Stremme, Toyota, 174.031 mph.
25. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 174.020 mph.
26. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 174.003 mph.
27. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 173.947 mph.
28. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 173.863 mph.
29. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 173.756 mph.
30. (47) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 173.745 mph.
31. (49) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 173.516 mph.
32. (83) Landon Cassill, Toyota, 173.388 mph.
33. (36) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 173.383 mph.
34. (23) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 173.249 mph.
35. (93) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 173.221 mph.
36. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 173.182 mph.
37. (98) Michael McDowell, Ford, 173.155 mph.
38. (26) Josh Wise #, Ford, 172.756 mph.
39. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 172.507 mph.
40. (13) Casey Mears, Ford, 171.985 mph.
41. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 171.625 mph.
42. (32) Reed Sorenson(i), Ford, Owner Points
43. (19) Mike Bliss(i), Toyota, 171.396 mph.
3 drivers failed to qualify:
44. (79) Tim Andrews(i), Ford, 170.989 mph.
45. (33) Jeff Green(i), Chevrolet, 169.769 mph.
46. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 169.444 mph.
