Qualifying report

NASCAR Cup Chicagoland

Kyle Busch takes Chicagoland pole in JGR front row lockout

Kyle Busch swept all three rounds of qualifying for the Tales of the Turtles 400 on Friday at Chicagoland Speedway.

Lee Spencer

Edited: Sep 16, 2017, 12:06 AM

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Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Busch’s lap of 187.963mph in the final round locked the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing car into the pole at the 1.5-mile track. Although Busch has started from the point for three previous Chicagoland races, it was Busch's first pole at speedway, his seventh of the season and 26th-career pole in the Monster Energy Cup Series.

“It’s because I’m in a Toyota,” Busch said, taking a shot at Brad Keselowski’s tweet from earlier in the day. “Great adjustments right there. Just trying to get the balance right. That was all she had.”

Clearly, Busch let the racing do the talking. As for Keselowski’s comments Busch replied, “You don’t hear anyone else complaining and he’s just one guy.”

Busch’s JGR teammate Denny Hamlin will share the front row with Busch. Hamlin posted a lap of 186.168mph. Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Keselowski and Kyle Larson will fill the first three rows.

Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer and Ryan Blaney, who did not make an attempt in the final round because he ran out of fuel, rounded out the top 12.

Keselowski was the first out for the final five-minute segment. The No. 2 Ford’s speed on the mostly shaded track was 185.236mph. Kyle Busch was second on the clock and shot to the top of the board with a lap of 187.963mph.

Austin Dillon was third quick (185.039mph) before Kevin Harvick bumped him to fourth. Chase Elliott moved up to fourth but was knocked down after Hamlin’s lap of 186.168mph. Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. came out in the last minute. Matt Kenseth’s lap of 184.024mph held up for 10th.

Ten of the 16 playoff drivers qualified for the final round.

Round 2

Kyle Busch swept the first two rounds with a speed of 185.752mph. Austin Dillon, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Larson all transferred to the final round.

Kurt Busch (183.874mph) was the first driver on the track in Round 2. Kenseth followed with a lap of 184.414mph. Keselowski vaulted to P1 with a lap of 184.995mph. Truex Jr., was the fourth driver and bumped the No. 2 with a speed of 185.618. Harvick (185.109mph) followed as spoiler Logano posted the second best speed — 185.338mph.

Seven minutes in, Ryan Newman ran a lap of 184.281mph. Just under the six-minute mark, Erik Jones spun off of Turn 4 before completing his laps. Larson was on the track as NASCAR waved the red flag and his run did not count.

Elliott took to the track when NASCAR lifted the red flag followed by Austin Dillon. Dillon bumped Truex with a speed of 185.675mph. Elliott’s lap of 185.033mph was sixth quick. With four minutes on the clock, Kyle Busch vaulted to P1 — 185.752mph. Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s first lap (184.326mph, 12th) bumped Ryan Newman out of the top 12.

“Didn’t have the grip, overdrove Turn 3,” McMurray said after posted the 16th-quick lap.

In the final minutes, Larson, Newman and Kurt Busch made second attempts. Larson (184.824mph), 12th, was the only driver of the group to move on. Johnson made his first round of the segment but couldn’t break through. Kenseth, the last driver out in the round, ran a third lap which was fast enough for 11th — 184.900mph.

“I’m starting a lot closer to the front than I have lately,” said Johnson who will start 14th.

Round 1

Kyle Busch led the first round of time trial at Chicagoland Speedway. He topped the chart with a speed of 185.874mph. Matt Kenseth was second (185.612mph) followed by Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman, Joey Logano and Danica Patrick.

Other Playoff drivers transferring to Round 2 included Jamie McMurray (13th), Denny Hamlin (16th), Martin Truex Jr. (17th), Kurt Busch (18th), Jimmie Johnson (19th) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (22nd).

Ray Black was the first driver to test the track for time trials. He posted a lap of 170.218mph in the second minute of the 20-minute round. Black made a second lap in the No. 51 Chevy but didn’t pick up any speed.

Most of the field waited until the maximum amount of shade covered the track. With less than 14 minutes remaining, Timmy Hill took to the track. He bumped Black with a lap of 174.261mph.

Denny Hamlin was the first of the playoff drivers to make a run with less than 12 minutes on the clock. The No. 11 Toyota captured to the top of the pylon with a lap of 183.318mph.

“I under drove to be conservative but I still have some left,” Hamlin said.

Kevin Harvick (185.103mph) bumped Hamlin. Ryan Blaney (184.906mph) and Brad Keselowski (184.055mph) joined with nine minutes to go for second and third quick. Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and Martin Truex Jr. were next on the track.

Kyle Larson ran with less than eight minutes remaining and vaulted to second. Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson ran there first laps. Busch was 10th, Johnson’s best time was initially12th quick. Erik Jones posted the top lap for a Toyota — 184.729mph.

With five minutes to go, Kyle Busch topped Jones with a lap of 185.874mph. Danica Patrick’s lap of 183.836mph was 12th quick with three minutes remaining. In the final minute, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. posted the 22nd quick lap — 182.291mph — on his second lap. He and Ty Dillon were the only drivers to move on that had multiple laps on their tires.

Kasey Kahne and Trevor Bayne, who were 25th and 26th quick, made a final attempt but couldn’t move up into the top 24 that transferred.

Cla#DriverManufacturerTimeGapMph 1 18 united_states Kyle Busch Toyota 28.729 187.963 2 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 29.006 0.277 186.168 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 29.049 0.320 185.893 4 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 29.086 0.357 185.656 5 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 29.152 0.423 185.236 6 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 29.176 0.447 185.084 7 22 united_states Joey Logano Ford 29.177 0.448 185.077 8 24 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 29.179 0.450 185.065 9 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 29.183 0.454 185.039 10 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 29.344 0.615 184.024 11 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 29.356 0.627 183.949 12 21 Ryan Blaney Ford 0.000 0.000 13 19 mexico Daniel Suarez Toyota 29.246 0.517 184.641 14 48 united_states Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 29.282 0.553 184.414 15 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 29.296 0.567 184.326 16 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 29.303 0.574 184.281 17 41 Kurt Busch Ford 29.368 0.639 183.874 18 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 29.471 0.742 183.231 19 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 29.513 0.784 182.970 20 88 united_states Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 29.522 0.793 182.914 21 43 Aric Almirola Ford 29.552 0.823 182.729 22 10 Danica Patrick Ford 29.565 0.836 182.648 23 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 29.716 0.987 181.720 24 77 Erik Jones Toyota 0.000 0.000 25 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 29.686 0.957 181.904 26 6 united_states Trevor Bayne Ford 29.724 0.995 181.671 27 34 Landon Cassill Ford 29.726 0.997 181.659 28 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 29.766 1.037 181.415 29 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 29.774 1.045 181.366 30 95 Michael McDowell Chevrolet 29.779 1.050 181.336 31 38 David Ragan Ford 29.879 1.150 180.729 32 32 united_states Matt DiBenedetto Ford 30.059 1.330 179.647 33 23 Corey Lajoie Toyota 30.128 1.399 179.235 34 15 Reed Sorenson Toyota 30.555 1.826 176.730 35 72 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 30.586 1.857 176.551 36 55 Gray Gaulding Toyota 30.608 1.879 176.424 37 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 30.818 2.089 175.222 38 66 united_states Timmy Hill Chevrolet 30.988 2.259 174.261 39 51 Ray Black Jr. Chevrolet 31.724 2.995 170.218 40 83 Brett Moffitt Toyota 0.000 0.000

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