Keselowski stays hot, wins pole in Loudon
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| Brad Keselowski |
Brad Keselowski won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Sylvania 300 on Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. On Sunday, he'll try to make it two-for-two in winning races in this year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Keselowski's track qualifying record speed of 140.598 mph topped the charts in the final 10-minute round of qualifying, supplanting Jamie McMurray from the top spot with approximately five minutes remaining. For Keselowski, it's the eighth pole of his career and fifth of 2014. Three of those eight poles have come at Loudon.
The Team Penske driver is tops in the Chase standings and has already guaranteed himself advancement into the 12-driver Contender Round by virtue of his win last week at Chicagoland Speedway.
McMurray maintained the second spot and will line up next to Keselowski on the front row in Sunday's race.
Rounding out the top 12 were: Kevin Harvick (third), Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brian Vickers.
Friday's qualifying session consisted of a 30-minute opening round, in which the top 12 drivers advanced to the 10-minute final round.
Jeff Gordon finished 13th in the opening session, and multiple late circuits around the 1.058-mile track weren't quick enough to top Earnhardt's speed. Clint Bowyer (14th) and Kurt Busch (15th) also just missed the cut.
Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers not qualifying the final 10-minute round included, in addition to Gordon and Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth (16th), Kasey Kahne (17th), Aric Almirola (21st), Greg Biffle (26th) and AJ Allmendinger (27th)
Johnson had dipped below the 12-driver cutoff before going back out on track and laying down the fourth-fastest lap with approximately 2 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the opening round.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice resumes Saturday at 9 a.m. with a 50-minute session. Final practice runs from 11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m. Both events will be televised on FOX Sports 1.
The Sylvania 300 is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. ET, with coverage on ESPN.
Lineup
| POS | NO. | DRIVER | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Miller Lite | 140.598 | 27.090 | Leader |
| 2 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Belkin/WEMO | 140.437 | 27.121 | –0.031 |
| 3 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Budweiser Desigante a Driver | 140.065 | 27.193 | –0.103 |
| 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Ground | 139.757 | 27.253 | –0.163 |
| 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M's | 139.721 | 27.260 | –0.170 |
| 6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe's | 139.419 | 27.319 | –0.229 |
| 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil | 139.241 | 27.354 | –0.264 |
| 8 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Aflac | 139.017 | 27.398 | –0.308 |
| 9 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Quicken Loans | 138.946 | 27.412 | –0.322 |
| 10 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Target | 138.881 | 27.425 | –0.335 |
| 11 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Diet Mountain Dew | 138.865 | 27.428 | –0.338 |
| 12 | 55 | Brian Vickers | Aaron's Dream Machine | 138.759 | 27.449 | –0.359 |
| 13 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Drive to End Hunger | 138.946 | 27.412 | –0.322 |
| 14 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | 5-Hour Energy | 138.946 | 27.412 | –0.322 |
| 15 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Haas Automation | 138.941 | 27.413 | –0.323 |
| 16 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Dollar General | 138.855 | 27.430 | –0.340 |
| 17 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Time Warner Cable | 138.825 | 27.436 | –0.346 |
| 18 | 10 | Danica Patrick | GoDaddy | 138.779 | 27.445 | –0.355 |
| 19 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | EcoPower Oil | 138.577 | 27.485 | –0.395 |
| 20 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Stanley | 138.527 | 27.495 | –0.405 |
| 21 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield | 138.512 | 27.498 | –0.408 |
| 22 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Cheerios | 138.492 | 27.502 | –0.412 |
| 23 | 27 | Paul Menard | Sylvania / Menards | 138.472 | 27.506 | –0.416 |
| 24 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | PlanBSales.com | 138.291 | 27.542 | –0.452 |
| 25 | 13 | Casey Mears | No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS | 138.210 | 27.558 | –0.468 |
| 26 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ortho | 138.185 | 27.563 | –0.473 |
| 27 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Bush's Beans | 138.090 | 27.582 | –0.492 |
| 28 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Code 3 Associates / Mobil 1 | 137.621 | 27.676 | –0.586 |
| 29 | 34 | David Ragan | Taco Bell | 137.581 | 27.684 | –0.594 |
| 30 | 40 | Landon Cassill | Snap Fitness | 136.992 | 27.803 | –0.713 |
| 31 | 26 | Cole Whitt | Rinnai | 136.722 | 27.858 | –0.768 |
| 32 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Furniture Row | 136.697 | 27.863 | –0.773 |
| 33 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 34 | 38 | David Gilliland | CLEAN HARBORS | 136.184 | 27.968 | –0.878 |
| 35 | 23 | Alex Bowman | Dr. Pepper Toyota | 136.077 | 27.990 | –0.900 |
| 36 | 33 | David Stremme | Little Joe's Autos | 136.038 | 27.998 | –0.908 |
| 37 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | American Muscle Driving Experience Chevrolet | 135.825 | 28.042 | –0.952 |
| 38 | 7 | Michael Annett | Feed the Children Chevrolet | 135.704 | 28.067 | –0.977 |
| 39 | 98 | Josh Wise | Phil Parsons Racing | 135.246 | 28.162 | –1.072 |
| 40 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Burger King Toyota | 136.560 | 27.891 | –0.801 |
| 41 | 77 | Corey Lajoie | Fochler Veterans Law | 134.558 | 28.306 | –1.216 |
| 42 | 66 | Mike Wallace | Land Castle Title | 133.774 | 28.472 | –1.382 |
| 43 | 32 | Timmy Hill | US Chrome | 133.110 | 28.614 | –1.524 |