Starting Lineup | Qualifying Results | All-Time Pole Winners
Kyle Busch edged his brother, Kurt, in qualifying to win the pole for Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Busch turned a lap around the .533-mile track of 128.822 mph in his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota. He won second Busch Pole of the season and his second at Bristol. It was Busch’s 29th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole.
“It’s nice to come out here and grab a front row starting spot but I have to be careful to be mindful of having a good race car,” Busch said. “Every time I’ve started up front, I’ve not ended up front and every time I’ve started in the back, I’ve ended up in the front.
“We’re trying to change things this time around. Thankfully, we have a fast race car to do that with.”
Busch will be flanked by his older brother Kurt of Stewart-Haas Racing on the front row, the third time the siblings have started 1-2 in a Cup race.
See Also: Kurt Busch Looking to Shine
Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five.
Kyle Larson, Paul Menard, Alex Bowman, Michael McDowell and Joey Logano completed the first 10 finishers.
Defending race winner Jimmie Johnson qualified 17th, but will have to start from the back, and tried to explain why drivers sat in their cars for the first half of every round before making a dash out on track. Johnson got hung up with Bubba Wallace.
“We let the track sit green for six minutes and then tried to cram 24 cars out there in four minutes,” he said. “I thought I managed a good gap off of pit road and I was just trying to find out from him what happened. He had a good gap in front of him and then he checked-up for whatever reason and I was on him. I was just trying to understand the circumstances.”
The reason Johnson will have to start at the back is because the team discovered a cut tire on his No. 48 Chevrolet.
Kevin Harvick will start last in the 39-car field after an accident in opening practice. The two-time Bristol winner will go to a back-up car and the team decided not to attempt a qualifying lap.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams will have a pair of practice sessions on Saturday to dial in their cars for Sunday’s Food City 500.
