CP MOTORSPORTS - SOUTHERN 500 QUALIFYING BELONGS TO KESELOWSKI
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It's been a while since Roger Penske has been to victory lane as an owner at Darlington. In fact, it's been 40 years now since Bobby Allison swept the races at The Lady in Black while driving for Penske.
Brad Keselowski took a big step towards ending this drought for his legendary car owner.
Channelling his inner Allison, Keselowski put down a lap of 27.492 seconds with an average speed of 178.874 mph to put his Bobby Allison themed No. 2 Ford on the pole for Sunday's Southern 500. It's Keselowski's first pole of the 2015 season and ninth pole of his Sprint Cup career.
Kurt Busch qualified in second place; the fifth time Busch has started from the front row this season.
Defending Southern 500 champion Kevin Harvick will roll of in third place with Joey Logano starting in fourth place. Seven-time Darlington winner Jeff Gordon grabbed the fifth starting spot in what is expected to be his final start at the South Carolina track.
Denny Hamlin, who won the pole for Saturday's Xfinity race, will start in the sixth spot with Martin Truex, Jr, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Busch rounding out the top ten for Sunday's showdown.
Danica Patrick appeared to hit the wall in the first round of qualifying and is expected to go to a backup car. Josh Wise, Timmy Hill and Travis Kvapil all missed the cut and did not qualify for Sunday's race.
Starting Line Up by Row
Darlington Raceway
66th Annual Bojangles' Southern 500
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sat, September 05, 2015 @ 02:45 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Matt Kenseth 05/11/13 03:32:45 141.383
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 2 Brad Keselowski Miller High Life Ford 27.492 178.874
2 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 27.691 177.588
Row 2: 3 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet 27.718 177.415
4 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 27.733 177.319
Row 3: 5 24 Jeff Gordon 3M Chevrolet 27.753 177.192
6 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Toyota 27.798 176.905
Row 4: 7 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet 27.807 176.848
8 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Cargill Ford 27.835 176.670
Row 5: 9 21 Ryan Blaney(i) Snap-on Tools Ford 27.910 176.195
10 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Crispy Toyota 27.929 176.075
Row 6: 11 43 Aric Almirola STP Ford 27.947 175.962
12 27 Paul Menard Moen/Menards Chevrolet 28.053 175.297
Row 7: 13 19 Carl Edwards ARRIS Toyota 27.703 177.511
14 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 27.749 177.217
Row 8: 15 5 Kasey Kahne HendrickRideAlong.com Chevrolet 27.751 177.204
16 42 Kyle Larson Mello Yello Chevrolet 27.762 177.134
Row 9: 17 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 27.776 177.045
18 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 27.781 177.013
Row 10: 19 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Chevrolet 27.805 176.860
20 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's/Cessna Chevrolet 27.851 176.568
Row 11: 21 55 David Ragan Ol' Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota 27.899 176.264
22 25 Chase Elliott(i) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 27.922 176.119
Row 12: 23 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 27.950 175.943
24 16 Greg Biffle Ortho Ford 32.037 153.498
Row 13: 25 83 Matt DiBenedetto # Cosmo Motors Toyota 27.730 177.339
26 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Valvoline Chevrolet 27.783 177.000
Row 14: 27 51 Justin Allgaier Brandt Chevrolet 27.783 177.000
28 15 Clint Bowyer Buddy Baker Tribute Toyota 27.828 176.714
Row 15: 29 3 Austin Dillon American Ethanol Chevrolet 27.833 176.682
30 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 27.844 176.613
Row 16: 31 40 Landon Cassill(i) #Snap Honor Chevrolet 27.847 176.594
32 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 27.860 176.511
Row 17: 33 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Winn Dixie Ford 27.882 176.372
34 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger/House-Autry Chevrolet 27.918 176.144
Row 18: 35 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 27.937 176.025
36 26 JJ Yeley(i) Beds For Kids Toyota 27.944 175.981
Row 19: 37 35 Cole Whitt Speed Stick Ford Owner Points
38 38 David Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford Owner Points
Row 20: 39 46 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Owner Points
40 34 Brett Moffitt # Dockside Ford Owner Points
Row 21: 41 23 Jeb Burton # Estes Toyota Owner Points
42 33 Mike Bliss(i) Little Joe's Auto Chevrolet Owner Points
Row 22: 43 98 TJ Bell Premium Motorsports Ford Owner Points
Did Not Qualify: # 32 Josh Wise; # 62 Timmy Hill(i); # 30 Travis Kvapil(i).
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 22 2 Toyota 9 0
Ford 12 1
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series