Kyle Busch edged Kasey Kahne and teammate Denny Hamlin for the Pole by a mere .003 and .004 of a second.
Kyle Busch came out of the hauler as the fastest car on the track, and he backed it up by taking the pole for today's LENOX Industrial Tools 301 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. After setting the pace in the first practice, Busch was the last of 44 drivers to run his qualifying lap. Edging Kasey Kahne by .003 seconds and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin by .004, Busch won the pole for today's race with a lap at 133.417 mph. It was a lucky Friday the 13th for Busch as he was the 13th driver to set the pole time and also the last. Just happy that he kept it off the wall, Busch had this to say about his run.
'I got in the throttle really early in [Turns] 3 and 4, trying to make speed and was able to finish it,' Busch said. 'But the car slipped right at the last second when you get to that older asphalt ' it seems like this tire [new from Goodyear for this race] is different from the older tire, where you lose just a pinch of grip ' it slid out right to the cushion point, I guess you'd say. But, no, there's no mark on the car, so it's a good day.'
Hamlin thought he lost the pole coming to the green on his first qualifying lap.
'Yeah, I thought maybe I could have gotten to the green a little bit better,' Hamlin said. 'You know your first lap's going to be the money lap, so I typically run into Turn 1 ' really at all race tracks ' a little bit easier and try to make up the ground as I go.
'But with qualifying as tight as it is, you've got to maximize everything to get poles, and obviously that was the difference.'
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Stewart Haas Racing loves coming to Loudon. Ryan Newman won this race in the spring with a 1 ' 2 start and a 1 ' 2 finish for Stewart Haas racing, then team owner Tony Stewart came back and won the fall race as the team continued to assert their dominance in New Hampshire. With Newman starting 6th and Stewart starting 10th the team is looking like they know which direction they need to go to make their way back to victory lane here in Loudon.
'We're decent, I think,' said Stewart, the owner-driver of the No. 14 Chevrolet. 'We were pretty good here for both races last year, so I'm pretty excited about coming back here.'
Asked why he thinks the SHR teams are so good at New Hampshire, Stewart said: 'I wish I knew, but it seems like where we were last year it's continuing on so far ' even though it sounds like we've got a little bit of a different tire. I'm pretty happy with it. I mean the car right off the first lap felt like it had really good balance to it. We've just got to keep working with it and see if we can keep making it better all weekend.'
Newman said he thought he had a better idea about why he and his boss are tough to contend with at New Hampshire.
'I think our cars are good, there's no doubt,' Newman said. 'I think the Hendrick engines [are strong], and everything's clicking. I like the track because I think you have to feel the tires and be on the edge.
'I was thinking about it last week. I think it kind of reminds us of our old IRP [Indianapolis Raceway Park] days. This kind of drives like that kind of race track where your car is on top of the race track, and you get everything that you can. There is nothing to really make it go any faster. It's not like you're pushing the car on the banking to make it grip better. There's none of that really to speak of here. I think just a little bit of our past, a little bit of us as far as the way we drive race cars, is what helps us here.'
'It was awesome for us here last year,' Newman said. 'It was a time when Stewart was struggling a little bit, too, so to have the one-two start and one-two finish, that was awesome. Then for him to back it up ' for us to win the spring race, and him to win the fall race ' it was an amazing place for us here, for Stewart-Haas, this race track here in Loudon. We'll try to do it again. There is no reason that we can't.'
When asked about the 6 point penalty assessed by NASCAR for the cooling hose violation, Stewart id not even seemed concerned as he weighed it against the possibilities for this weekend.
'It was a mistake on our team's part and we deserve the penalty for it,' Stewart said. 'Luckily it was in qualifying, so it wasn't something that made us win the race. We didn't win the race because of that. Like I said, it was just a mistake on our part and we've just got to make sure we don't overlook that again.'
Related posts:
- NASCAR ' Stewart Haas Take the Front Row With Newman on the Pole
- NASCAR ' Stewart Haas Team Finish The Way They Started, 1-2
- NASCAR- David Ragan Finds the Front Row at the Brickyard
- NASCAR ' Biffle Leads a Roush Sweep in Texas, Stewart Winning The War of Words With Edwards, Kyle Busch Gets Grounded For the Weekend
- NASCAR ' Edwards Takes Vegas, Stewart Has a Late Race Pit Stumble But Ties For First in Points Lead
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