By Jim Utter, McClatchy Newspapers –
CONCORD, N.C. — Kyle Busch has the first part of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race down.
Now, how about the most important part — the win?
Busch won his third All-Star Race pole (second consecutive) and its $50,000 prize on Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
(PHOTO: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch celebrates his team’s winning the pole for the Sprint All-Star Race in Victory Lane at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, Friday, May 18, 2012.)
He’ll try again Saturday night for the chance at the $1 million top prize.
A win would also be the first in the event for Joe Gibbs Racing.
“Luckily, we start up front. The rules change every year and I guess this year you need to win one of the (first four) segments to have a chance to start up front in the final segment,” said Busch.
“This is a whole team effort. This is one of the most fun times we have. I love working with my team – they are always awesome.
“Knowing you can come down pit road and get four tires changed pretty quickly is a great feeling.”
Not only was Busch the best on and off pit road during his stop, but he had the best four-tire pit stop among drivers that didn’t receive any penalties. Busch completed the three laps and pit stop in 119.112 seconds, averaging 136.006 mph.
Busch was the last of 20 drivers to go out and knocked off Ryan Newman, who sat atop the speed chart for most of the session (119.821 seconds, 135.202 mph).
Denny Hamlin was third-fastest, Greg Biffle fourth and Kevin Harvick fifth. Jimmie Johnson, whose team won the Sprint Pit Crew Challenge on Thursday night and had the choice of the first pit stall in the race, was sixth-fastest.
Busch knows qualifying is just the start of a difficult process to win NASCAR’s all-star race.
I think the biggest challenge about Charlotte is how much the track changes from practice. You practice all day during the day and then you go into night racing,” Busch said.
“You’ve got to know what kind of adjustments to make to your car and how well you can race at night. Typically, you go back to your night notes.
“For us, we’ve run we ll there in the past and like going there – it’s a fun place to race and adds to the excitement of spending some time at home.”
Kasey Kahne wrecked on his qualifying lap and will move to a backup car. He will start the race from the rear of the field, as will Regan Smith, who changed engines on Friday during practice.
Five cars received penalties during their respective pit stops.
The cars of Kurt Busch, Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth each had a loose lug nut. Brad Keselowski had two loose lug nuts on his No. 2 Dodge, and Marcos Ambrose was penalized for his team going over the wall too soon.
The final three spots in the All-Star Race field will be filled by the top two finishers in Saturday’s Sprint Showdown plus the fan vote winner from among the remaining drivers.
