NASCAR: Fords dominate front of Sprint Cup field in Las Vegas

 

Ford Fusions took the top four spots and five of the first seven in Friday afternoon qualifying for Sunday's Kobalt Tools Sprint Cup 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The 267-lap, 400-mile race is scheduled for a 3:15 p.m. Eastern start on the Fox network.

Roush Fenway Racing driver Matt Kenseth won the pole in his No. 17 Ford, dislodging Richard Petty Motorsports driver Marcos Ambrose in his No. 9 Ford. Roush Fenway teammates Carl Edwards in his No. 99 Ford and Greg Biffle in his No. 16 Ford were third and fourth, ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano in Toyotas. The rest of the top 10: A.J. Allmendinger in an Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, Ryan Newman in a Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet, Martin Truex Jr. in a Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota and Mark Martin in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Daytona 500 winner and media darling Trevor Bayne held the pole for a few minutes early in the session until Martin took it. Martin enjoyed being number one for only a few minutes until hometown star Kyle Busch ran a quicker lap. Ambrose took it from Busch and Kenseth took it from Ambrose toward the end of the session. Once Edwards failed to knock him from atop the scoring pylon with a few drivers still in line, Kenseth had no real challengers.

Only 44 teams were on hand to compete for 43 grid spots, removing much of the pressure from the eight "go or go home" drivers not locked in via top-35 owner points. Casey Mears, Mike Skinner, Joe Nemechek, J.J. Yeley, Dave Blaney, Landon Cassill, Bill Elliott and Michael McDowell made the show. After doing well enough at Daytona Beach to add the Phoenix-Las Vegas swing to his schedule, Brian Keselowski missed both races.

The pole was Kenseth's first since the 2009 spring race at Darlington, S.C., and the fifth of his career. His lap of 28.589 seconds (188.884 mph) broke the former track record of 188.719 mph set by Kurt Busch last March.

"It feels great," Kenseth said. "Qualifying isn't my strong suit but I knew we had a really fast car when we did our last qualifying run. Honestly, this is the most nervous I've been before qualifying in probably five years because I knew we had a shot at the pole. I didn't want to mess up a fast car so I was really happy with that."

David Ragan, his Roush Fenway teammate, wasn't so lucky. He got too high in turn two on his first lap and spun down the track but didn't make contact with any objects. He didn't complete his lap and was scored 43rd among drivers making the show.

"We have a great car and I wish we could have finished that lap," Ragan said. "It was going to be fast. We were going to be on the front row but I just didn't do what I needed to do to get back around."

Nationwide practice

Earlier on Friday, the Nationwide Series teams had their third and fourth practice sessions. In the first two sessions, on Thursday afternoon and evening, Ford driver Carl Edwards and Toyota driver Kyle Busch had led the first two sessions.

Edwards led the third session at 179.104 mph. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Busch, Mark Martin, Brian Scott, Trevor Bayne, Justin Allgaier, Denny Hamlin, Elliott Sadler and Kevin Harvick completed the top 10. In the second session, Martin's Chevrolet reached 178.542 mph to lead Sadler, Stenhouse, Busch, Allgaier, Jason Leffler, Michael Annett, Bayne, Hamlin and Brad Keselowski.

Nationwide qualifying is scheduled for noon Eastern on Saturday, followed at 3 p.m. by the Sam's Town 300. Forty-two teams are on hand, one fewer than the 43 teams allowed on the grid.

STARTING LINEUP FOR THE SPRINT CUP RACE

1. Matt Kenseth, Ford, 188.884 mph

2. Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 188.166 mph

3. Carl Edwards, Ford, 188.127 mph

4. Greg Biffle Ford, 187.970 mph

5. Kyle Busch, Toyota, 187.565 mph

6. Joey Logano, Toyota, 187.318 mph

7. A.J. Allmendinger, Ford, 187.253 mph

8. Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 187.220 mph

9. Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 187.201 mph

10. Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 187.195 mph

11. Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 187.084 mph

12. Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 187.084 mph

13. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 186.903 mph

14. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 186.728 mph

15. Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 186.528 mph

16. Trevor Bayne, Ford, 186.528 mph

17. Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 186.464 mph

18. Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 186.445 mph

19. Brian Vickers, Toyota, 186.335 mph

20. Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 186.079 mph

21. Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 186.053 mph

22. Kurt Busch, Dodge, 186.002 mph

23. Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 185.970 mph

24. Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 185.688 mph

25. David Reutimann, Toyota, 185.567 mph

26. Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 185.478 mph

27. Casey Mears, Toyota, 185.217 mph

28. Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 185.103 mph

29. Mike Skinner, Ford, 184.742 mph

30. Kasey Kahne, Toyota, 184.470 mph

31. Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 184.464 mph

32. J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 184.200 mph

33. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 183.949 mph

34. Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 183.014 mph

35. David Gilliland, Ford, 183.007 mph

36. Landon Cassill, Toyota, 182.070 mph

37. Bill Elliott, Chevrolet, 181.977 mph

38. Michael McDowell, Toyota, 181.769 mph

39. Robby Gordon, Dodge, 181.403 mph

40. Travis Kvapil, Ford, 181.269 mph

41. Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 179.414 mph

42. Tony Raines, Ford, 177.299 mph

43. David Ragan, Ford, No time

Did not qualify: Brian Keselowski

Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110304/NASCAR/110309938#ixzz1FhcqxYgn