Kyle Busch takes Chicagoland pole in JGR front row lockout

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	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Time	Gap	Mph
1	18	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	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	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	29.246	0.517	184.641
14	48	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	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	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	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	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