AdvoCare 500 Qualifying
Date: Aug. 31, 2012
Event: AdvoCare 500 Qualifying (Round 25 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Tony Stewart of Stewart-Haas Racing (29.787 seconds at 186.121 mph)
Kyle Busch: 3rd (29.888 seconds at 185.493 mph)
Kyle Busch qualified third for the AdvoCare 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Busch, the driver of the No. 18 Doublemint® Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), turned a lap of 29.888 seconds at 185.493 mph Friday evening around the 1.54-mile oval.
“I’ve qualified second or third here the last few times,” said Busch, who won the March 2008 Sprint Cup race at Atlanta. “I missed it in a couple of places and couldn’t get enough for the pole. The Doublemint Camry was good but just missed it a little bit. We’ll just see what it gets when we practice in race trim tomorrow and for the race on Sunday.”
Busch’s JGR teammates – Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry, and Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry – qualified seventh and ninth, respectively. Hamlin posted a time of 29.932 seconds at 185.220 mph, while Logano stopped the clock in 29.954 seconds at 185.084 mph.
Tony Stewart captured his 14th career Sprint Cup pole, his first of the season and his first at Atlanta by posting a lap of 29.787 seconds at 186.121 mph.
Greg Biffle will start on the outside of row one after turning a lap of 29.863 seconds at 185.648 mph. Busch was third (29.888 seconds at 185.493 mph) while Matt Kenseth (29.916 seconds at 185.319 mph) and Jeff Gordon (29.918 seconds at 185.307 mph) round out the top-five.
Forty-seven drivers attempted to qualify for the AdvoCare 500. The drivers not making the cut in the 43-car field were Michael McDowell, Josh Wise, Stephen Leicht and Mike Bliss.
Chevrolet took the top spot among manufacturers via Stewart’s pole run. Ford was next-best at the hands of Biffle. Toyota was the third-fastest make thanks to Busch, while Sam Hornish Jr. carried the flag for Dodge with the 15th-quickest lap (30.031 seconds at 184.609 mph).
The AdvoCare 500 gets underway at 7:30 p.m. EDT Sunday with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 6:30 p.m.
