Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 Qualifying Report
Date: Oct. 6, 2012
Event: Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 Qualifying (Round 30 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Kasey Kahne of Hendrick Motorsports (50.017 seconds at 191.455 mph)
Kyle Busch: 13th (50.289 seconds at 190.419 mph
Kyle Busch qualified 13th for Sunday’s Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) turned a lap of 50.289 seconds at 190.419 mph on the 2.66-mile oval.
“We have a really good racecar with our M&M’s Camry,” said Busch, who notched his only Talladega Sprint Cup victory in April 2008. “The Toyota guys seemed to have made some gains for the restrictor-plate stuff, which is good. The Michael Waltrip guys qualified better than us at Daytona, but our guys went to work and did a good job through the summer here of getting us some good stuff to come back with here this fall. We were in a position to win here in the spring and all you can do is hope to be in that position late in the race again and have a shot at a win. The M&M’s guys have brought me a great car and we’re here to win tomorrow.”
Busch’s JGR teammates – Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry, and Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry – qualified 13th and 23rd, respectively. Logano posted a time of 50.296 seconds at 190.393 mph, while Hamlin clocked in at 50.467 seconds at 189.748 mph.
Kasey Kahne captured his 25th career Sprint Cup pole, his third of the season and his first at Talladega by posting a lap of 50.017 seconds at 191.455 mph.
Ryan Newman will start on the outside of row one as he timed in at 50.098 seconds at 191.145 mph. Clint Bowyer was third (50.105 seconds at 191.119 mph), while Tony Stewart (50.138 seconds at 190.993 mph) and Greg Biffle (50.148 seconds at 190.955 mph) rounded out the top five.
Forty-three drivers attempted to qualify for the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500, thus, each driver attempting a qualifying lap made the 43- car field.
As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took the top spot via Kahne’s pole run. Toyota was next best at the hands of Bowyer. Ford was the third-fastest make thanks to Biffle, while 10th-quick Sam Hornish Jr. (50.234 seconds at 190.628 mph) carried the flag for Dodge.
The Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 gets underway at 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre- race show at 1 p.m.
