Pennsylvania 400 Qualifying Report
Date: Aug. 4, 2012
Event: Pennsylvania 400 Qualifying (Round 21 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2.5-mile triangle)
Pole Winner: Juan Pablo Montoya of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing (51.124 seconds at 176.043 mph)
Kyle Busch: 20th (51.642 seconds at 174.277 mph)
Kyle Busch qualified 20th for Sunday’s Pennsylvania 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) turned a lap of 51.642 seconds at 174.277 mph on the 2.5-mile triangle.
“The M&M’s Camry has been good since we unloaded,” said Busch, who has four top-five finishes in 15 Sprint Cup starts at Pocono. “Unfortunately on that lap, we were way too tight and we were dragging the splitter just a bit. Since we were fast in practice yesterday, we had a late draw and the track didn’t have as much speed in it late in the session as it did earlier. We feel like we have a really good M&M’s Camry for the race tomorrow and we’ll work our way to the front and, hopefully, be in contention before the day is over.”
Busch’s JGR teammates – Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry, and Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry – qualified second and 14th, respectively. Hamlin posted a time of 51.196 seconds at 175.795 mph, while Logano clocked in at 51.489 seconds at 174.795 mph.
Juan Pablo Montoya captured his eighth career Sprint Cup pole, his first of the season and his first at Pocono by posting a lap of 51.124 seconds at 176.043 mph. Montoya is the 15th different pole winner this season and he is now locked into the 2013 Shootout at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
Hamlin will start on the outside of row one while Paul Menard (51.256 seconds at 175.627 mph), Kasey Kahne (51.300 seconds at 175.439 mph) and Marcos Ambrose (51.302 seconds at 175.432 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-four drivers attempted to qualify for the Pennsylvania 400. The lone driver not making the cut in the 43-car field was Stephen Leicht.
As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took the top spot via Montoya’s pole run. Toyota was next-best at the hands of Hamlin. Ford was the third-fastest make thanks to Ambrose, while 25th-quick Sam Hornish Jr. (51.866 seconds at 173.524 mph) carried the flag for Dodge.
The Pennsylvania 400 gets underway at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at noon.
