Brad Keselowski claimed his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole since 2017 on Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when he posted a 27.927-second/136.384 mph lap during qualifying for the first starting spot for Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301. It’s Keselowski’s fourth-career pole at NHMS.
“There are some tracks that are less impactful to win the pole than Loudon, N.H., is,” Keselowski said. "Certainly, the restrictor plate tracks come to mind, but that doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy them as much at those tracks and that they don’t mean something to you. They certainly do, but as you look to rank the tracks for where qualifying well matters, this is certainly towards the top. I think probably the only track I can think of where it’s maybe more important would be Martinsville in the fall or the two races we have there in the spring and fall, but we’re happy with that effort. It certainly bodes well for our shot to get those stage wins and, of course, the overall race win come Sunday, but we still have to go earn it. You’re happy for it. You take a breath. You celebrate it, and then, you get your head back down and go to work.”
All three manufacturers were represented in the top-three during Friday’s qualifying session, with Kyle Busch qualifying his Toyota in second to start on the front row next to Keselowski’s Ford. Kurt Busch qualified third in his Chevrolet.
Qualifying was stopped for several minutes for track cleanup after Alex Bowman’s driveshaft broke, spreading fluid on the track. A significant amount of speedy dry was already on the track because of an incident in NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying earlier in the day.
“There was just a big boom going down the front straightaway, and then, smoke and oil everywhere,” Bowman said. "I just tried to get it off the race track. I parked down there in turns one and two once before, with the car on fire, and the guy with the fire extinguisher, so I’m not friends with turns one and two, there. It’s just a bummer. I don’t know that we were going to qualify very well with turns one and two being a ‘beach’ right now with all the speedy dry down there, but we were definitely going to start better than last. But, obviously, we’re going to start last now. I’m bummer for my Axalta 88 guys. The race car has been really good all day, but we’ll put a new driveshaft in it and go from there.”
After failing to make a timed lap in qualifying, Bowman will start Sunday’s race in the back in a backup car. Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman also will be in the back in backup cars for the start of the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 after incidents in Friday’s lone practice session.
“It’s not as good as the primary. It’s a backup for a reason,” Hamlin said of his backup car. “It’s been in the trailer for a long time, so we’re going to do the best we can with it. Hopefully, execute well and have the right strategy and good track position and try to make something of the weekend.”
Kyle Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones qualified fourth after holding the provisional pole through much of Friday’s qualifying session. After going out 10th among the 37 entrants, Jones remained on the provisional pole until Busch went out 32nd in the qualifying order. Busch’s time atop the scoring pylon was brief, though. Keselowski was 33rd out and posted the lap that would soon become the official pole-winning lap.
"Definitely a lot better than what we had in practice,” Jones said. "I missed it a little bit on the lap. It had some more in it; just didn’t hit it right. The Stanley Camry felt good, there, so I think that was the first time all day I’ve had a good feel in the car, and if we can kind of transfer that into tomorrow, that’d be a positive.”
Ryan Blaney qualified fifth. Other top-10 qualifiers included Martin Truex Jr. in sixth, Matt DiBenedetto seventh, Joey Logano eighth, Aric Almirola ninth and Jimmie Johnson rounding out the top-10.
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