Busch Owns the Table in Vegas
March 1, 2008 by Tim Zaegel
Filed under Racing
It was a good news / bad news type of day for most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers today. The good news – there were no rain clouds in sight in Las Vegas on Friday, and the series actually got their qualifying event in at the scheduled time. The bad news – Kyle Busch is the hottest driver in the sport, and he’s starting Sunday’s race from the front of the field in front of the hometown crowd.
Busch turned a fast lap of 29.613 seconds in qualifying to earn himself the Coors Lite Pole Award, just 0.125 seconds faster than last week’s race winner Carl Edwards, who will start on the outside of the front row.
AJ Allmendinger, Johnny Sauter, John Andretti, and Joe Nemecheck all failed to make the race while Mike Skinner, Patrick Carpentier, and Ken Schrader will be racing for the first time this season. Kyle Busch’s teammate Tony Stewart will start the race 25th, but brother Kurt will start 9th. Jimmie Johnson, the defending winner of this race, will out of the gates in 33rd.
Race Lineup (courtesy of nascar.com):
| POS |
CAR |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
SPEED |
TIME |
BEHIND |
| 1 |
18 |
Kyle Busch |
Toyota |
M&M’s |
182.352 |
29.613 |
Leader |
| 2 |
99 |
Carl Edwards |
Ford |
Dish Network |
181.586 |
29.738 |
-0.125 |
| 3 |
8 |
Mark Martin |
Chevrolet |
U.S. Army |
181.293 |
29.786 |
-0.173 |
| 4 |
24 |
Jeff Gordon |
Chevrolet |
Nicorette / DuPont |
181.238 |
29.795 |
-0.182 |
| 5 |
27 |
Mike Skinner |
Toyota |
Bad Boy Mowers |
181.117 |
29.815 |
-0.202 |
| 6 |
16 |
Greg Biffle |
Ford |
3M |
181.105 |
29.817 |
-0.204 |
| 7 |
66 |
Scott Riggs |
Chevrolet |
State Water Heaters |
180.868 |
29.856 |
-0.243 |
| 8 |
88 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Chevrolet |
National Guard / AMP Energy |
180.838 |
29.861 |
-0.248 |
| 9 |
2 |
Kurt Busch |
Dodge |
Miller Lite |
180.777 |
29.871 |
-0.258 |
| 10 |
19 |
Elliott Sadler |
Dodge |
Stanley Tools |
180.717 |
29.881 |
-0.268 |
| 11 |
5 |
Casey Mears |
Chevrolet |
Pop-Tarts / CARQUEST |
180.656 |
29.891 |
-0.278 |
| 12 |
10 |
Patrick Carpentier* |
Dodge |
Valvoline |
180.608 |
29.899 |
-0.286 |
| 13 |
17 |
Matt Kenseth |
Ford |
USG Sheetrock |
180.469 |
29.922 |
-0.309 |
| 14 |
00 |
David Reutimann |
Toyota |
Aaron’s Dream Machine |
180.379 |
29.937 |
-0.324 |
| 15 |
12 |
Ryan Newman |
Dodge |
ALLTEL |
180.355 |
29.941 |
-0.328 |
| 16 |
44 |
Dale Jarrett |
Toyota |
UPS |
180.270 |
29.955 |
-0.342 |
| 17 |
29 |
Kevin Harvick |
Chevrolet |
Shell / Pennzoil |
180.240 |
29.960 |
-0.347 |
| 18 |
1 |
Martin Truex Jr. |
Chevrolet |
Bass Pro Shops / Tracker |
180.234 |
29.961 |
-0.348 |
| 19 |
49 |
Ken Schrader |
Dodge |
Qtrax.com |
179.994 |
30.001 |
-0.388 |
| 20 |
77 |
Sam Hornish Jr.* |
Dodge |
Mobil 1 |
179.958 |
30.007 |
-0.394 |
| 21 |
07 |
Clint Bowyer |
Chevrolet |
Jack Daniel’s |
179.934 |
30.011 |
-0.398 |
| 22 |
55 |
Michael Waltrip |
Toyota |
NAPA AUTO PARTS |
179.862 |
30.023 |
-0.410 |
| 23 |
70 |
Jeremy Mayfield |
Chevrolet |
Haas Automation |
179.820 |
30.030 |
-0.417 |
| 24 |
31 |
Jeff Burton |
Chevrolet |
AT&T Mobility |
179.796 |
30.034 |
-0.421 |
| 25 |
20 |
Tony Stewart |
Toyota |
The Home Depot |
179.575 |
30.071 |
-0.458 |
| 26 |
22 |
Dave Blaney |
Toyota |
Caterpillar |
179.354 |
30.108 |
-0.495 |
| 27 |
11 |
Denny Hamlin |
Toyota |
FedEx Kinko’s |
179.265 |
30.123 |
-0.510 |
| 28 |
01 |
Regan Smith* |
Chevrolet |
Coors Light |
179.259 |
30.124 |
-0.511 |
| 29 |
28 |
Travis Kvapil |
Ford |
Yates Racing |
178.489 |
30.132 |
-0.519 |
| 30 |
96 |
J.J. Yeley |
Toyota |
DLP HDTV |
179.164 |
30.140 |
-0.527 |
| 31 |
42 |
Juan Montoya |
Dodge |
Texaco / Havoline |
179.003 |
30.167 |
-0.554 |
| 32 |
7 |
Robby Gordon |
Dodge |
Jim Beam |
178.992 |
30.169 |
-0.556 |
| 33 |
48 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Chevrolet |
Lowe’s |
178.944 |
30.177 |
-0.564 |
| 34 |
38 |
David Gilliland |
Ford |
FreeCreditRep ort.com |
178.465 |
30.258 |
-0.645 |
| 35 |
41 |
Reed Sorenson |
Dodge |
Target |
178.389 |
30.271 |
-0.658 |
| 36 |
26 |
Jamie McMurray |
Ford |
Crown Royal |
178.347 |
30.278 |
-0.665 |
| 37 |
9 |
Kasey Kahne |
Dodge |
Budweiser |
178.330 |
30.281 |
-0.668 |
| 38 |
6 |
David Ragan |
Ford |
AAA Insurance |
178.312 |
30.284 |
-0.671 |
| 39 |
43 |
Bobby Labonte |
Dodge |
Cheerios “Circle of Helping Hearts” |
178.271 |
30.291 |
-0.678 |
| 40 |
15 |
Paul Menard |
Chevrolet |
Johns Manville / Menards |
177.913 |
30.352 |
-0.739 |
| 41 |
45 |
Kyle Petty+ |
Dodge |
Wells Fargo |
177.439 |
30.433 |
-0.820 |
| 42 |
40 |
Dario Franchitti+* |
Dodge |
Target |
177.212 |
30.472 |
-0.859 |
| 43 |
83 |
Brian Vickers |
Toyota |
Red Bull |
179.826 |
30.029 |
-0.416 |
| Did Not Qualify |
|||||||
| 44 |
84 |
A.J. Allmendinger |
Toyota |
Red Bull |
178.962 |
30.174 |
-0.561 |
| 45 |
78 |
Joe Nemechek |
Chevrolet |
Furniture Row / DenverMattress.com |
177.334 |
30.451 |
-0.838 |
| 46 |
34 |
John Andretti |
Chevrolet |
Front Row Motorsports |
45.952 |
117.513 |
-87.900 |
| 47 |
21 |
Johnny Sauter |
Ford |
U.S. Air Force |
- |
- |
- |
