Brad Keselowski wins pole for Southern 500
The Penske cars have been fast in qualifying so far in 2015. But while Joey Logano entered the Southern 500 race weekend with four poles, Brad Keselowski didn't have any. Until Saturday, anyway.
Keselowski, who had a very fast car during Friday's practice session, posted the fastest time in the final round of qualifying and will start first for Sunday night's race at Darlington Raceway. He'll start alongside Kurt Busch. Kevin Harvick, Busch's teammate, starts third, while Logano starts fourth.
"The track was changing and the car was falling off as the tires were falling off and it is hot so the track was hard to get ahold of, but the car is fast and my team did a great job," Keselowski said. "We just executed when it counted. The number one pit stall will be big because there will be a lot of pit stops with the tires wearing off so much. I think it will be about clean air and holding track position as long as you can. This is a track position race and the new rules will make the cars hard to get ahold of and keep off the wall. You have to keep it off the wall.”
The Darlington race is the second time the Sprint Cup Series has used the low-downforce aerodynamic package in 2015. The first race was at Kentucky, and drivers exited their cars with rave reviews. Kentucky's race did not include any changes to the tires, and Sunday night's race is accompanied with a softer tire. Laps are expected to fall off by two seconds or more per lap as tires get worn out.
Jeff Gordon will start fifth, followed by Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch. Timmy Hill, Travis Kvapil and Josh Wise missed the race.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
