Stewart-Haas Racing NASCAR Banking 500 Qualifying Report

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala SS, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent in time trials at Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C., by qualifying fifth for Saturday night’s NASCAR Banking 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Stewart turned a lap of 28.351 seconds at 190.469 mph on the 1.5-mile oval.
“That’s a great lap for us,” said Stewart, who won the non-points Sprint All-Star race in May at Charlotte. “It’s a good lap for me and a good lap for Darian Grubb (crew chief) and all the guys on this Old Spice/Office Depot Chevy. The guys worked hard today and we got a good starting spot out of it.”

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 TRANSFORMERS: “Revenge of the Fallen” Chevrolet Impala SS for SHR, qualified sixth with a time of 28.359 seconds at 190.416 mph.

“I probably could’ve pushed it a little more in (turns) one and two, but I don’t think I would’ve picked up three-tenths of a second,” said Newman, who has eight pole positions in 17 career Sprint Cup starts at Charlotte. “It was a good lap for the No. 39 Transformers Chevy. We backed up our practice time and we’re going to have a good starting spot for Saturday night.”

Jimmie Johnson captured his 22nd career Sprint Cup pole, his third of the season and his third at Charlotte by posting a lap of 28.070 seconds at 192.376 mph. In doing so, the three-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion broke the record for the fastest qualifying lap in the current-generation Sprint Cup car, which was first introduced starting with a part-time schedule in 2007. The previous fastest qualifying lap in the current-generation car was 190.907 mph, set by Dale Earnhardt Jr., in April 2008 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

Mark Martin will start alongside his Hendrick Motorsports teammate on the outside of row one, as he timed in at 28.152 seconds at 191.816 mph. Kasey Kahne was third (28.264 seconds at 191.056), while Matt Kenseth (28.339 seconds at 190.550 mph) and Stewart rounded out the top-five. Forty-seven drivers attempted to qualify for the NASCAR Banking 500. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Dave Blaney, Travis Kvapil, Sterling Marlin and Michael McDowell.

As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet swept the front row thanks to the Hendrick duo of Johnson and Martin. Dodge was next best at the hands of Kahne, while Ford was the third-fastest make thanks to Kenseth. Kyle Busch, who qualified 10th, was the top Toyota at 28.384 seconds at 190.248 mph.  Busch’s time and speed was identical to that of Jeff Gordon, but Gordon was awarded the ninth spot due to his higher position in the championship point standings. Gordon is fifth in points, while Busch is 13th.