Joe Gibbs Racing’s Carl Edwards won the pole for the Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Edwards drove his No. 19 Stanley Toyota to his 15th career pole and first in 11 races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a lap of 183.464 mph. In searching for his first win at Indianapolis on Sunday, Edwards will look to improve upon his best-ever performance at IMS when he finished as the runner-up to Jimmie Johnson in 2008.
“After yesterday, this is amazing,” Edwards said. “We started so slow yesterday and we struggled. We buckled down and worked hard. I’m proud of my guys. This is the first pole at the Brickyard for Toyota. Stanley has been behind us 100 percent, not just me, but our entire program. This is big.”
Due to the new high-drag aerodynamic package on Sprint Cup Series cars, Crown Royal 400 at the Brickyard qualifying was modified to a two-round format. Each car posted a time for one lap in the first round, with the 12 fastest cars advancing to a second round, where one more single-lap run was used to determine the polesitter.
“It worked out well. I like this style of qualifying,” Edwards said. “You feel like you have all the pressure, and I like that.
“The first round, we weren’t the fastest car. I watched the clouds and the timing worked out pretty well, and I thought I’m going to be pretty aggressive on this second one. Plus, Kyle Busch was talking smack about how he was going to beat me in the second round, so I was really motivated from that. Then, after going through Turns 1 and 2, I thought ‘This is going to be a really good lap.”‘
Joey Logano and David Ragan qualified second and third behind Edwards – the same top 3 qualifiers as a week ago at New Hampshire.
“We got a good start,” said Logano, who drove his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford to a lap of 183.139 mph. “David (Ragan) and I were just laughing up here, saying it was the same top three cars that started last weekend in Loudon. Completely different racetrack, completely different package, the same cars are fast.
“Second always hurts, but it’s nice to be up close to the front. It’s going to be a tough race for sure, but we always want to get that win for Roger (Penske). He’s been trying for years to get that first stock car win here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We’re going to try to do what we can to do his best shot at it.”
Rounding out the top-10 qualifiers from today’s action were two-time Crown Royal at the Brickyard winner Tony Stewart (2005-07), Kyle Larson, reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray.
Four-time Crown Royal 400 at the Brickyard winner (2006, ’08, ’09, ’12) and six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson qualified 12th, with five-time Brickyard 400 winner (1994, ’98, ’01, ’04, ’14) Jeff Gordon of nearby Pittsboro, Indiana, qualifying 19th for his final Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis.
The 160-lap Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard starts Sunday at 3:50 p.m.
SOURCE: Indianapolis Motor Speedway • PHOTO: Brian Groce