Yahoo Autos Busch beats Blaney at WWTR to take his first pole with RCR
Kyle Busch will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to green at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill.
The two-time 2023 winner laid down a lap of 32.802 seconds in the final round of qualifying to secure the pole for Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300. It was Busch’s first pole for Richard Childress Racing and his first from qualifying since the penultimate race of 2019 at Phoenix Raceway.
“I’m proud of everybody on this 3Chi (Chevrolet) Camaro,” Busch said. “I knew there was speed in it, it was just a matter of being able to hit it right and do everything that I needed to do behind the wheel.
“I got everything I could get out of it in (Turns) 1 and 2 and seemed to be just good enough in 3 and 4 to beat the (No.) 12.”
Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney gave Busch a scare with the final run of the day, but fell 0.008s short of pole at the line. He’ll start second for Team Penske.
Denny Hamlin (32.870s), Kevin Harvick (32.903s) and Martin Truex Jr. (33.001s) rounded out the top five, with Joey Logano (33.006s), William Byron (33.030s), Ross Chastain (33.090s), Tyler Reddick (33.140s) and Austin Cindric (33.203) completing the top 10.
Hamlin led Group A with a time of 32.877s. He was followed into the final round by Reddick, Byron, Busch and Logano. Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, Michael McDowell, Kyle Larson and Justin Haley were the top drivers that failed to advance.
Blaney was quickest in Group B, slotting ahead of Chastain in the final run of the group. Harvick, Cindric and Truex also advanced. Just missing out on the final group were AJ Allmendinger, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suarez, Harrison Burton and Ty Gibbs.
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Corey LaJoie struggled in his qualifying session for Hendrick Motorsports, slotting the No. 9 Chevrolet 16th in Group B after hitting the wall on his run. He’ll start 30th in Sunday’s race.
LaJoie’s replacement at Spire Motorsports, Craftsman Truck Series regular Carson Hocevar, qualified 26th for his Cup Series debut.
Logano led the way in the preceding practice session, setting a best time of 32.881s. Larson, Byron, McDowell and Reddick followed. LaJoie was 30th in the No. 9 Chevrolet, while Hocevar sat 16th. Gibbs completed a session-high 30 laps.
There are 36 cars entered in the Enjoy Illinois 300.
