Todd Warshaw/Getty Images / DIS / Headline Surfer / DAYTONA BEACH – Toyota dominated Friday’s Coke Zero 400 qualifying with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch take the pole and teammate Matt Kenseth joining him up front on the outside for tonight's 160-lap, 400-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
Busch, who captured the 2008 mid-summer classic, posted a time of 46.459, or 193.723 mph. Busch’s only other pole at the 2.5-mile tri-oval came in the 2010 Nationwide Series race when qualifying was canceled due to weather and the field was set by the qualifying draw.
“Whether it’s speedways or whether it’s open race tracks, we seem to be qualifying a lot better this year,” Busch said. “I just wish that our finishing average was as good as our qualifying average because (my team has) done a really, really good job of all of that – helping me be fast this year on these one laps.”
Two-time Daytona 500 champion Matt Kenseth posted a fast lap of 193.299 mph to take the outside pole.
“It’s been pretty good the first two plate races,” Kenseth said of their restrictor-plate program. “We were pretty strong and we led a lot of laps and didn’t get to win either of them, but we led a lot of laps and were in position. I’m excited for tomorrow night.”
“It’s been pretty good the first two plate races,” Kenseth said of their restrictor-plate program. “We were pretty strong and we led a lot of laps and didn’t get to win either of them, but we led a lot of laps and were in position. I’m excited for tomorrow night.”
Rounding out the top five were Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne and Bowyer’s Michael Waltrip Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr. The top qualifying rookie was Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who will roll off ninth.