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Kenseth Fastest In Sprint Cup Qualifying At Homestead

Homestead, Fla. – Matt Kenseth didn’t have the fastest car -19th to be exact – in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in practice at the Homestead-Miami Speedway but with the chips on the line, the Wisconsin native registered a speed of 1776.667 miles per hour to take the pole for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400.

Driving the Dollar General Toyota, Kenseth gained his third Sprint Cup pole of the season and the 11th of his career.

“I am always surprised when we are on the pole, and I haven’t been surprised too much in my career,” Kenseth said half-jokingly in the post-qualifying interview. “Qualifying is not normally my strong suit. Today, Jason (Ratcliff) had a plan, and I didn’t like it. He wanted to work on qualifying the whole time, but I don’t like to do that. I had him frustrated after the practice as I missed every corner with every mock-up run I made. But he did a spectacular job of helping me and making the right adjustments, and we got the pole and the first pit stall.”

Kenseth added that earning the pole was a confidence booster for his team and should Jimmie Johnson have a problem, his team wants to be in front to capitalize on opportunities presented.

Kurt Busch took the outside starting spot with a run of 177.445 mph in the Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet.

Said Busch, “We got a pole earlier this year at Darlington. It was very special day because it really turned our season in the right direction. Now we want to finish as strong as we can. One lap is good for qualifying but I’m going to give these guys everything I have for 267 laps on Sunday night to see if we can’t win with this Furniture Row Chevy.”

Newly engaged driver Joey Logano claimed the inside of the second row at 177.282 mph in the Shell Pennzoil Ford and teammate Brad Keselowski flanked him with a speed of 177.061 mph in the Miller Lite Ford.

Row three qualifiers were Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.

The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup point leader Johnson qualified for the inside of row four and Martin Truex Jr. starts alongside.

Said Johnson about his run, “It was a difficult set of circumstances qualifying at night when you practice during the day. But I think we did a nice job adjusting the race car. We had a nice car in qualifying and a decent run.

“We have a good point lead, which helps in some respects. The test session we had here a couple weeks ago has led to a comfortable day today. That helps put the nerves at bay. But come Sunday, the nerves are going to be there. You can’t hide from them. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve accomplished.”

The ninth and 10th place qualifiers were Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Elliott Sadler.

With only 43 entrants, all drivers made the starting field.

Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 will be telecast live by ESPN at 3 p.m. ET.

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