Kahne wins pole in Michigan
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| Kasey Kahne |
Kasey Kahne turned the fastest lap in Friday's qualifying session to earn the top spot for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series CARFAX 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Kahne, who announced earlier this week he would join Team Red Bull for the 2011 season, toured the two-mile track with a lap of 187.183 mph to take his second pole of the season.
"We were good the last time we were here in June," said Kahne who finished second behind Denny Hamlin two months ago at Michigan. "We have speed again and a good car so hopefully that will translate into a good day on Sunday."
Jimmie Johnson will start outside the front row with Clint Bowyer, last week's Watkins Glen winner Juan Pablo Montoya and Greg Biffle rounding out the top five.
Matt Kenseth, series point leader Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex, Jr., Paul Menard and Jeff Burton completed the first ten qualifiers.
Three drivers failed to qualify for the race: Scott Riggs, Casey Mears and J.J. Yeley.
Sunday's CARFAX 400 is slated to take the green flag at 1:15 p.m. ET.
Lineup
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Ford | Budweiser | 187.183 | 38.465 | Leader |
| 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's | 187.086 | 38.485 | -0.020 |
| 3 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Cheerios / Hamburger Helper | 186.577 | 38.590 | -0.125 |
| 4 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Old Spice | 186.572 | 38.591 | -0.126 |
| 5 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 186.461 | 38.614 | -0.149 |
| 6 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M | 186.350 | 38.637 | -0.172 |
| 7 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Crown Royal | 186.268 | 38.654 | -0.189 |
| 8 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Shell / Pennzoil | 186.176 | 38.673 | -0.208 |
| 9 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 186.167 | 38.675 | -0.210 |
| 10 | 98 | Paul Menard | Ford | MasterCraft Doors / Menards | 185.912 | 38.728 | -0.263 |
| 11 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Cat Financial | 185.730 | 38.766 | -0.301 |
| 12 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 185.715 | 38.769 | -0.304 |
| 13 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Miller Lite / Vortex | 185.596 | 38.794 | -0.329 |
| 14 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron's Dream Machine | 185.596 | 38.794 | -0.329 |
| 15 | 09 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction | 185.467 | 38.821 | -0.356 |
| 16 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Insignia HDTV / Best Buy | 185.419 | 38.831 | -0.366 |
| 17 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Tornados | 185.333 | 38.849 | -0.384 |
| 18 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Interstate Batteries | 185.290 | 38.858 | -0.393 |
| 19 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Philips Norelco Bodygroom Pro | 185.276 | 38.861 | -0.396 |
| 20 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 185.071 | 38.904 | -0.439 |
| 21 | 13 | Max Papis | Toyota | GEICO | 184.952 | 38.929 | -0.464 |
| 22 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | FrontRowJoe.com | 184.876 | 38.945 | -0.480 |
| 23 | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Ford | Henry Ford Museum: Racing in America | 184.867 | 38.947 | -0.482 |
| 24 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 184.777 | 38.966 | -0.501 |
| 25 | 26 | Patrick Carpentier | Ford | Air National Guard | 184.729 | 38.976 | -0.511 |
| 26 | 12 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Penske Racing | 184.634 | 38.996 | -0.531 |
| 27 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 184.615 | 39.000 | -0.535 |
| 28 | 77 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Mobil 1 | 184.582 | 39.007 | -0.542 |
| 29 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS | 184.535 | 39.017 | -0.552 |
| 30 | 21 | Bill Elliott | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 184.431 | 39.039 | -0.574 |
| 31 | 82 | Scott Speed | Toyota | Red Bull | 184.417 | 39.042 | -0.577 |
| 32 | 38 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Long John Silver's | 184.341 | 39.058 | -0.593 |
| 33 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Express | 183.885 | 39.155 | -0.690 |
| 34 | 83 | Reed Sorenson | Toyota | Red Bull | 183.870 | 39.158 | -0.693 |
| 35 | 207 | Robby Gordon | Toyota | SpeedFactory.tv | 183.744 | 39.185 | -0.720 |
| 36 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont | 183.439 | 39.250 | -0.785 |
| 37 | 47 | Marcos Ambrose | Toyota | Little Debbie | 183.388 | 39.261 | -0.796 |
| 38 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | National Guard – Drive the Guard / Amp Energy | 183.337 | 39.272 | -0.807 |
| 39 | 34 | Tony Raines | Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 182.764 | 39.395 | -0.930 |
| 40 | 71 | Bobby Labonte+ | Chevrolet | TaxSlayer.com | 182.454 | 39.462 | -0.997 |
| 41 | 7 | P.J. Jones+ | Toyota | SpeedFactory.tv | 180.555 | 39.877 | -1.412 |
| 42 | 37 | David Gilliland+ | Ford | Taco Bell | 179.798 | 40.045 | -1.580 |
| 43 | 55 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | Prism Motorsports | 183.257 | 39.289 | -0.824 |
| Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 132 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | Braun Racing | 183.136 | 39.315 | -0.850 |
| 45 | 46 | J.J. Yeley | Dodge | Whitney Motorsports | 183.038 | 39.336 | -0.871 |
| 46 | 66 | Scott Riggs | Toyota | Prism Motorsports | 180.959 | 39.788 | -1.323 |
| 47 | 36 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 180.059 | 39.987 | -1.522 |
+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie