Martin takes pole in Kansas
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| Mark Martin |
| CIA Stock Photo |
Mark Martin led a Hendrick Motorsports domination in qualifying at Kansas Speedway by taking the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Price Chopper 400.
Martin bumped his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. off the top spot with a lap of 175.758 mph. It's his seventh pole of the season and 48th of his career.
Earnhardt Jr.'s second-place effort is his best start since qualifying third, in the same car he's driving this weekend, at Indianapolis.
Brad Keselowski, who is making his second-to-last Cup Series start with Hendrick, qualified third. He was the best of the drivers that needed to qualify on time and the effort will give him his first Cup Series start at Kansas.
Tony Stewart went out first in qualifying and put down a fast lap of 175.041 mph, which was good enough for the fifth spot in another Hendrick affiliated car.
Kasey Kahne, Joe Nemechek, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon and Scott Speed completed the top 10.
Jimmie Johnson qualified 11th to give Hendrick six cars in the top 11.
Lineup
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | Carquest / Kellogg's | 175.758 | 30.724 | Leader |
| 2 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | National Guard / Amp Energy | 175.279 | 30.808 | -0.084 |
| 3 | 25 | Brad Keselowski | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 175.205 | 30.821 | -0.097 |
| 4 | 26 | Jamie McMurray | Ford | Crown Royal | 175.199 | 30.822 | -0.098 |
| 5 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Old Spice | 175.040 | 30.850 | -0.126 |
| 6 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Dodge | Budweiser | 174.984 | 30.860 | -0.136 |
| 7 | 187 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | NEMCO Motorsports | 174.786 | 30.895 | -0.171 |
| 8 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Cheerios / Hamburger Helper | 174.746 | 30.902 | -0.178 |
| 9 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont | 174.712 | 30.908 | -0.184 |
| 10 | 82 | Scott Speed* | Toyota | Red Bull | 174.656 | 30.918 | -0.194 |
| 11 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's / Kobalt Tools | 174.627 | 30.923 | -0.199 |
| 12 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 174.610 | 30.926 | -0.202 |
| 13 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron's Dream Machine | 174.577 | 30.932 | -0.208 |
| 14 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 174.565 | 30.934 | -0.210 |
| 15 | 44 | A.J. Allmendinger | Dodge | Valvoline | 174.514 | 30.943 | -0.219 |
| 16 | 21 | Bill Elliott | Ford | Motorcraft | 174.216 | 30.996 | -0.272 |
| 17 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 174.109 | 31.015 | -0.291 |
| 18 | 20 | Joey Logano* | Toyota | The Home Depot | 174.109 | 31.015 | -0.291 |
| 19 | 09 | Mike Bliss | Dodge | Miccosukee Resort & Gaming | 173.857 | 31.060 | -0.336 |
| 20 | 98 | Paul Menard | Ford | Zecol / Menards | 173.796 | 31.071 | -0.347 |
| 21 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Tracker | 173.768 | 31.076 | -0.352 |
| 22 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Freight | 173.723 | 31.084 | -0.360 |
| 23 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Dewalt | 173.522 | 31.120 | -0.396 |
| 24 | 66 | Dave Blaney | Toyota | Prism Motorsports | 173.472 | 31.129 | -0.405 |
| 25 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS Freight | 173.377 | 31.146 | -0.422 |
| 26 | 171 | Bobby Labonte | Chevrolet | TRG Motorsports | 173.349 | 31.151 | -0.427 |
| 27 | 47 | Marcos Ambrose | Toyota | Little Debbie / Kingsford / Clorox | 173.282 | 31.163 | -0.439 |
| 28 | 43 | Reed Sorenson | Dodge | McDonald's Monopoly | 173.277 | 31.164 | -0.440 |
| 29 | 55 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 173.121 | 31.192 | -0.468 |
| 30 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | U.S. Army | 173.099 | 31.196 | -0.472 |
| 31 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | Sherwin Williams / 3M | 173.060 | 31.203 | -0.479 |
| 32 | 12 | David Stremme | Dodge | Penske Racing | 172.999 | 31.214 | -0.490 |
| 33 | 77 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Mobil 1 | 172.695 | 31.269 | -0.545 |
| 34 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M's | 172.469 | 31.310 | -0.586 |
| 35 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 172.425 | 31.318 | -0.594 |
| 36 | 07 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | Jack Daniel's | 172.150 | 31.368 | -0.644 |
| 37 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Toyota | Mapei / Menards | 172.040 | 31.388 | -0.664 |
| 38 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Reese's | 171.931 | 31.408 | -0.684 |
| 39 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Miller Lite | 171.135 | 31.554 | -0.830 |
| 40 | 34 | John Andretti+ | Chevrolet | Taco Bell | 170.670 | 31.640 | -0.916 |
| 41 | 96 | Erik Darnell+ | Ford | Northern Tool + Equipment | 170.326 | 31.704 | -0.980 |
| 42 | 19 | Elliott Sadler+ | Dodge | Best Buy | 170.181 | 31.731 | -1.007 |
| 43 | 113 | Max Papis* | Toyota | GEICO | 172.629 | 31.281 | -0.557 |
| Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 204 | David Gilliland | Toyota | Robby Gordon Motorsports | 172.392 | 31.324 | -0.600 |
| 45 | 36 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | Wave Energy Drink | 171.119 | 31.557 | -0.833 |
| 46 | 37 | Kevin Hamlin | Dodge | Long John Silver's | 170.175 | 31.732 | -1.008 |
+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie