Sylvania 300 Qualifying Report
Date: Sept. 21, 2012
Event: Sylvania 300 Qualifying (Round 28 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1.058-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports (28.232 seconds at 134.911 mph)
Kyle Busch: 2nd (28.265 seconds at 134.753 mph)
Kyle Busch qualified second for the Sylvania 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. The driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) turned a lap of 28.265 seconds at 134.753 mph on the 1.058-mile oval.
“That was a pretty good lap from where we were earlier in the day with the M&M’s Camry,” said Busch, who won in July 2006 at New Hampshire. “Practice didn’t quite go the way we wanted it to. We sort of struggled earlier in practice and didn’t quite get the draw we had hoped for, and had to go out a little bit early today. Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and the guys made some really nice changes from practice to qualifying to get the car a lot better, and it reacted well and was really fast.
“I was actually shocked by the time it ran, but at the same time I was pleased with the lap and thought it might hold up for the pole. But, Jeff (Gordon) had a really good draw at the end and beat us by a little bit. Still, it’s good for track position to be able to start up front like that here at Loudon.”
Busch’s JGR teammates – Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry, and Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry – qualified 18th and 32nd, respectively. Logano posted a time of 28.521 seconds at 133.544 mph, while Hamlin clocked in at 28.935 seconds at 131.633 mph.
Jeff Gordon captured his 72nd career Sprint Cup pole, his second of the season and his fourth at New Hampshire by posting a lap of 28.232 seconds at 134.911 mph. Gordon remained third on the all-time Sprint Cup pole list, but is still well back of second-place David Pearson, who has 113 poles. Richard Petty is the leader with 123 pole positions.
Busch will start on the outside of row one, while Tony Stewart, Brian Vickers (28.322 seconds at 134.483 mph) and Carl Edwards (28.349 seconds at 134.354 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-seven drivers attempted to qualify for the Sylvania 300. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Scott Riggs, Jason Leffler, Jeff Green and Josh Wise.
As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took the top spot via Gordon’s pole run. Toyota was next best at the hands of Busch, while Ford was the third fastest make thanks to Edwards. Tenth-quick Dave Blaney (28.453 seconds at 133.863 mph) carried the flag for Dodge. Blaney is subbing for Sam Hornish Jr., who is in Iowa competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event. Hornish will be back on Sunday to race in the Sylvania 300.
The Sylvania 300 gets underway at 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at 1 p.m.
