Starting Lineup | Qualifying Results
Kurt Busch won his first pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and his third of the season, in qualifying for Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301.
Busch turned a lap of 133.591 mph around the 1.058-mile track in the day’s final round of qualifying to earn the top spot for Sunday’s 20th race of the season.
“It’s a track that has been pretty good to me since I started racing in the top series of this sport. I raced there for the first time in the Truck Series and won that race,” Busch said. “Then, it’s a track where I have three wins in the Cup cars and, when you’re able to go to a track where you’ve had that kind of success, it just gives you confidence.
“Because of the wins and everything, it’s a place we go to where I feel like I especially know what it takes from the car and the driver to be successful.”
Busch scored his 25th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole.
New Hampshire Pole Winners | All-Time Pole Winners
Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five.
Brad Keselowski, Erik Jones, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and Chase Elliott completed the first 10 qualifiers.
“Yeah, it’s really good for me here,” said Bowman, the highest qualifying Chevrolet driver. “I struggle here quite a bit. A little off of where we were, I thought, in practice as far as handling went, but to come here and qualify a solid top 10 means the car is probably a whole lot better than that, which is a good thing for me come Sunday.”
Other notables in the field include Kevin Harvick (14th), Clint Bowyer (15th), Joey Logano (19th), Kyle Larson (20th), Jimmie Johnson (21st) and Matt Kenseth (31st).
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams will have a pair of practice sessions on Saturday to dial in their cars for Sunday’s race.
