February 28/14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Coors Light Qualifying debuted with Knock out Qualifying at Phoenix International Speedway. The first round was 30 minutes with 46 cars running for 43 spots. The fastest 12 then moved to a second and final round lasting 10 minutes, with the fastest car in the final round winning the Coors Light Pole. At tracks measuring 1.25 miles or longer, there will be three rounds of qualifying, with the field decreasing to 24 cars in the second round and 12 cars in the final round. The time breakdown in each: 25 minutes for the first; 10 minutes for the second; and five minutes for the third.
Brad Keselowski Car 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford won the Coors Light Pole Award & track record for the 10th Annual The Profit on CNBC 500 presented by Small Business Fueling America with a lap of 25.828 seconds, 139.384 mph. Second place was Joey Logano Car 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford with a lap of 25.850, 139.265 mph making the it a Team Penske front row.
3rd Place Jamie McMurray Car 1 Cessna / Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet 25.905, 138.969 mph, 4th place Jimmie Johnson Car 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet 26.021,138.350 mph, 5th place Dale Earnhardt Jr. Car 88 National Guard Chevrolet 26.022, 138.344 mph, 6th place Greg Biffle Car 16 3M Ford 26.023, 138.339 mph, 7th place Kyle Busch Car 18 Skittles Toyota 26.027, 138.318 mph, 8th place Kyle Larson Car 42 Clorox Chevrolet 26.027, 138.318 mph, 9th place Aric Almirola Car 43 Farmland Ford 26.034, 138.281 mph, 10th Kurt Busch Car 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet 26.078, 138.047 mph, 11th place Kasey Kahne Car 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 26.108, 137.889 mph, 12th place Denny Hamlin Car 11 FedEx Office Toyota 26.217, 137.315 mph.
This is Brad Keselowski’s Car 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford 4th pole in 163 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his first pole in ten races at Phoenix International Raceway. He won his first Coors Light Pole of 2014 at the one-mile speedway in the 10-minute round.
“It’s a lot more nerve-wracking,” Keselowski said of the new format. “Usually there’s a pretty good rule of thumb: if it’s a lot more nerve-wracking for drivers, it’s a lot more fun for fans and partners and all those things. That’s a good thing. “I’m more curious (about) the feedback we get from our fans and everybody else, whether or not they liked it, because, at the end of the day, it’s not about whether I like it. It’s about whether they like it. I like it, because it fits my style, but that’s neither here nor there. It’s about what our fans care for, and I’d be interested to see the feedback over time.”
The exciting part was in the 1st 30 minute session in the last 6 minutes Kevin Harvick Car 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet got into the top 12 just to be put in the 13th spot by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Car 88 National Guard Chevrolet & Denny Hamlin Car 11 FedEx Office Toyota. Joey Logano Car 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford was the fastest in the 1st session with a speed of 139.190 mph.
One difference in qualifying was cars trying to cool engines going around the track at 30 mph while others were on hot qualifying run 100 mph faster.
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition, said allowing cooling units on pit road might cause the strategic element of the new format to suffer. Pemberton, however, did emphasize the sanctioning body’s continuing dialogue with the race teams. “It’s important for us to work together with the teams to come up with the right solutions,” Pemberton said. Indycar uses a similar qualifying procedure and the top three qualifiers all drive for teams with IndyCar affiliations. The IndyCar Series uses the knockout format in road course qualifying, and as Keselowski said, team owner Roger Penske “was all over that.”
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying – The Profit on CNBC 500, Presented by Small Business Fueling America Landon Cassill, Josh Wise and Dave Blaney failed to qualify for the 43-car field.
Did Not Qualify: Car 98 Josh Wise, Car 40 Landon Cassill, Car 77 Dave Blaney. NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping will also be doing Knock out Qualifying.
Phoenix International Raceway
Avondale, Arizona
Friday, February 28, 2014
Did Not Qualify: Car 98 Josh Wise, Car 40 Landon Cassill, Car 77 Dave Blaney.
Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Fri, February 28, 2014 @ 07:53 PM Eastern
Starting Line Up: 10th Annual The Profit on CNBC 500 presented by Small Business Fueling America Phoenix International Raceway, Sunday March 2 2:30 pm on Fox
Position, Car #, Driver, Team, Time, Speed
Row 1:
1. Car 2, Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 25.828, 139.384 mph
2. Car 22, Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 25.850, 139.265 mph
Row 2:
3. Car 1, Jamie McMurray Cessna / Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet 25.905, 138.969 mph
4. Car 48, Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 26.021,138.350 mph
Row 3:
5. Car 88, Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 26.022, 138.344 mph
6. Car 16, Greg Biffle 3M Ford 26.023, 138.339 mph
Row 4:
7. Car 18, Kyle Busch Skittles Toyota 26.027, 138.318 mph
8. Car 42, Kyle Larson Clorox Chevrolet 26.027, 138.318 mph
Row 5:
9. Car 43, Aric Almirola Farmland Ford 26.034, 138.281 mph
10. Car 41, Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 26.078, 138.047 mph
Row 6:
11. Car 5, Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 26.108, 137.889 mph
12. Car 11, Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 26.217, 137.315 mph
Row 7:
13. Car 4, Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s Chevrolet 26.122, 137.815 mph
14. Car 15, Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota 26.123, 137.810 mph
Row 8:
15. Car 31, Ryan Newman Quicken Loans Chevrolet 26.126, 137.794 mph
16. Car 55, Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 26.127, 137.788 mph
Row 9:
17. Car 24, Jeff Gordon Pepsi MAX Chevrolet 26.136, 137.741 mph
18. Car 13, Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 26.165, 137.588 mph
Row 10:
19. Car 20, Matt Kenseth Home Depot / Husky Toyota 26.173, 137.546 mph
20. Car 14, Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1 Chevrolet 26.185, 137.483 mph
Row 11:
21. Car 17, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Ford 26.187, 137.473 mph
22. Car 27, Paul Menard Pittsburgh Paints / Menards Chevrolet 26.211, 137.347 mph
Row 12:
23. Car 99, Carl Edwards SUBWAY Ford 26.236, 137.216 mph
24. Car 3, Austin Dillon American Ethanol Chevrolet 26.239, 137.200 mph
Row 13:
25. Car 47, AJ Allmendinger Clorox Fraganzia Chevrolet 26.243, 137.179 mph
26. Car 95, Michael McDowell K Love Ford 26.265, 137.065 mph
Row 14:
27. Car 78, Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 26.296, 136.903 mph
28. Car 38, David Gilliland Love’s Travel Stops Ford 26.303, 136.867 mph
Row 15:
29. Car 9, Marcos Ambrose MAC Tools Ford 26.317, 136.794 mph
30. Car 34, David Ragan Farm Rich Ford 26.318, 136.789 mph
Row 16:
31. Car 26, Cole Whitt GEAR Speed Stick Toyota 26.330, 136.726 mph
32. Car 33, Brian Scott Whitetail Chevrolet 26.331, 136.721 mph
Row 17:
33. Car 10, Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 26.365, 136.545 mph
34. Car 83, Ryan Truex Borla Exhaust Toyota 26.495, 135.875 mph
Row 18:
35. Car 23, Alex Bowman Dr Pepper Toyota 26.546, 135.614 mph
36. Car 30, Parker Kligerman Toyota 26.591, 135.384 mph
Row 19:
37. Car 35, Blake Koch, MDS Transport Ford Qualified with Owner Points
38. Car 66, Joe Nemechek Land Castle Title Toyota Qualified with Owner Points
Row 20:
39. Car 36, Reed Sorenson Chevrolet Qualified with Owner Points
40. Car 32, Travis Kvapil Ask More – Get More Ford Qualified with Owner Points
Row 21:
41. Car 7, Michael Annett Accell Construction Chevrolet Qualified with Owner Points
42. Car 87, Morgan Shepherd Morris – Hardwick – Schneider Toyota Qualified with Owner Points
Row 22:
43. Car 51, Justin Allgaier Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet Qualified with Owner Points
This is the official starting line-up as of February 28 for the race which could still be changed if teams have to go backup cars or engine changes.