JOLIET, Ill. — Report by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Sean Gardner/Getty Images North America photo —
Hello, Joe Gibbs Racing.
The powerhouse Toyota outfit flexed their muscle in NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying on Satuday afternoon, with Kyle Busch notching the pole for the Furious 7 300 at Chicagoland Speedway and leading a podium sweep for JGR in the final knockout round.
Busch’s lap of 29.841 seconds (180.959 mph) bested fellow Sprint Cup teammate Matt Kenseth (29.860/180.844) and young rookie Daniel Suarez (29.910/180.542) for the top spot on the grid, and marked the Las Vegas native’s third pole of the season in just nine starts this season.
“We played it pretty good,” Busch smiled after scoring his 46th career NXS pole. “I thought everything about our Monster Energy Toyota was fast. We just had to play the strategy right a little bit and make sure we could get out on the race track while a couple clouds were out there as well. All in all, I feel really good about our race car and our chances tonight, so we’ll see what happens.”
Kenseth and Suarez will line up second and third, respectively, as the JGR trio were the only cars to top the 180 mph barrier in the final round.
Ty Dillon and Ryan Blaney made up the balance of the fast five, ahead of Kyle Larson, Paul Menard, championship leader Chris Buescher, Regan Smith and Ryan Reed.
Brendan Gaughan and Darrell Wallace Jr. were the final two cars who advanced to the final round of qualifying and will start 11th and 12th, with Wallace’s lap “a disappointment” after he topped the second round of qualifying.
Three-time Chicagoland pole winner Brian Scott missed the cut for the final round by 0.022 of a second, meaning his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet will roll off 13th in pursuit of a first-career NXS win for the Idaho native.
“I think our car is pretty good in race trim,” Scott admitted. “We just can’t seem to get our hands around qualifying this year. Goodyear’s brought a little bit different tire back and it seems to have hurt our team more than others, for whatever reason. We’re gonna keep working on it — I always feel really good about how we race — so I know we’ll race better than this. It’s just disappointing to have this happen at one of my best qualifying race tracks.”
Other notables who missed the third and final round included Kasey Kahne (14th); John Wes Townley (15th), who hit the wall exiting turn four on his lap; reigning series champion Chase Elliott (17th) and J.J. Yeley (22nd), who was second-fastest in practice on Friday.
Blaney topped the opening round of knockout qualifying at 30.300 seconds (178.218 mph) ahead of Busch, Kenseth, Suarez and Larson.
Rookie Ross Chastain was the first driver who failed to advance out of the first round, and his No. 4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet will start 25th as a result — just ahead of Ryan Sieg and teammate Michael Self.
Morgan Shepherd was the lone car who failed to make the 40-car starting grid.
The Furious 7 300 takes the green flag at 6 p.m. Eastern time, live on NBC Sports Network.
RESULTS: NASCAR XFINITY Series; Coors Light Pole Qualifying; Chicagoland Speedway; September 19, 2015
- Kyle Busch
- Matt Kenseth
- Daniel Suarez
- Ty Dillon
- Ryan Blaney
- Kyle Larson
- Paul Menard
- Chris Buescher
- Regan Smith
- Ryan Reed
- Brendan Gaughan
- Darrell Wallace Jr.
- Brian Scott
- Kasey Kahne
- Jeremy Clements
- John Wes Townley
- Chase Elliott
- Dakoda Armstrong
- Chase Elliott
- Cale Conley
- Landon Cassill
- J.J. Yeley
- Blake Koch
- Benny Gordon
- Ross Chastain
- Ryan Sieg
- Michael Self
- Dexter Bean
- Jeff Green
- David Starr
- Jimmy Weller
- Mason Mingus
- Joey Gase
- Eric McClure
- Derrike Cope
- T.J. Bell
- Martin Roy
- Mike Harmon
- Josh Reaume
- Derek White
DNQ: Morgan Shepherd
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 21-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
