Motor Racing Digest

 

Posted by: Dave Thompson, follow @phillyfan17

June 16, 2012

Marcos Ambrose became new track record holder and NASCAR’s fastest man with his qualifying lap speed of 203.241 mph at Michigan International Speedway. Ambrose will lead the field to the checkered flag on Sunday for the Quicken Loans 400.

Ambrose becomes the fourth driver to win the pole with a lap over 200 mph. The others are Benny Parsons, Cale Yarborough and Bill Elliott.

Ambrose’s record setting speed is the 11th-fastest pole-winning speed in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history.

Ambrose went out 20th in qualifying and withstood the remaining 25 drivers to win his first Cup series pole.

Kevin Harvick will join Ambrose on the front row for Sunday’s race in driving his special Budweiser Folds of Honor paint scheme.

Greg Biffle, the fastest driver in the final practice yesterday at 204.708 mph, but was unable to match that speed in his qualifying run. Biffle had the third fastest speed at 201.816 mph.

Kasey Kahne went out 38th and qualified fourth with a speed of 201.720 mph. Kahne led the Hendrick Motorsports stable with Jimmie Johnson lined up 10th on the grid.

Ryan Newman, the previous record holder at Michigan International Speedway, rounded out the top-five in qualifying.

Carl Edwards reported engine problems and was unable to make an official qualifying lap and will start at the rear of the field in 42nd.

Austin Dillon, who won the pole for the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, earned the No. 33 Chevrolet from Richard Childress Racing a spot for Sunday’s race and will start 22nd.

Several notable drivers that will start deep in the field are:

Jeff Gordon – 28th

Jeff Burton – 33rd

Kyle Busch – 34th

The top 19 qualifiers for the Quicken Loans 400 all shattered the 200 mph barrier.

David Stremme and Stacy Compton failed to make the field for the race.

The teams qualified on the same tires they practiced on over the last few days, but will put the new left tires previous used at Charlotte Motor Speedway on for the first time for a 75-minute practice session that will begin at 6 p.m. ET. SPEED will televise the final practice.

The starting lineup for the Quicken Loans 400 at MIS:

Pos	Car	Driver	Team	BestLapTime	BestSpeed
1	9	Marcos Ambrose	Stanley Ford	35.426	203.241
2	29	Kevin Harvick	Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet	35.637	202.037
3	16	Greg Biffle	3M/Salute Ford	35.676	201.816
4	5	Kasey Kahne	Farmers Insurance Chevrolet	35.693	201.720
5	39	Ryan Newman	US ARMY Chevrolet	35.737	201.472
6	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford EcoBoost Ford	35.739	201.461
7	21	Trevor Bayne(i)	Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford	35.742	201.444
8	14	Tony Stewart	Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet	35.755	201.370
9	20	Joey Logano	The Home Depot Toyota	35.777	201.247
10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe’s Chevrolet	35.789	201.179
11	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Office Toyota	35.842	200.882
12	78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row Chevrolet	35.870	200.725
13	15	Clint Bowyer	5-hour Energy Toyota	35.877	200.686
14	55	Mark Martin	Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota	35.894	200.591
15	43	Aric Almirola	Medallion Ford	35.930	200.390
16	56	Martin Truex Jr.	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota	35.931	200.384
17	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	DietMtnDew/TheDrkKnghtRises/NtnlGrd Chev	35.943	200.317
18	27	Paul Menard	Menards/Duracell Chevrolet	35.976	200.133
19	1	Jamie McMurray	McDonald’s Chevrolet	35.980	200.111
20	22	AJ Allmendinger	Shell Pennzoil Dodge	36.010	199.944
21	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Target Chevrolet	36.070	199.612
22	33	Austin Dillon(i)	American Ethanol Chevrolet	36.083	199.540
23	23	Scott Riggs	North TX Pipe Chevrolet	36.095	199.474
24	13	Casey Mears	Valvoline NEXTGEN Ford	36.262	198.555
25	2	Brad Keselowski	Miller Lite Dodge	36.277	198.473
26	51	Kurt Busch	Phoenix Construction Services, Inc. Chevrolet	36.320	198.238
27	98	Michael McDowell	Presbyterian Healthcare Ford	36.342	198.118
28	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont Chevrolet	36.378	197.922
29	19	Mike Bliss(i)	Humphrey Smith Racing, LLC Toyota	36.404	197.780
30	26	Josh Wise #	MDS Transport Ford	36.419	197.699
31	47	Bobby Labonte	Charter Toyota	36.475	197.395
32	83	Landon Cassill	Burger King Toyota	36.532	197.087
33	31	Jeff Burton	Caterpillar Chevrolet	36.538	197.055
34	18	Kyle Busch	Snickers Toyota	36.543	197.028
35	38	David Gilliland	Long John Silver’s Ford	36.580	196.829
36	36	Dave Blaney	Seal Wrap Chevrolet	36.582	196.818
37	87	Joe Nemechek(i)	AM/FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota	36.591	196.770
38	34	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports Ford	36.609	196.673
39	93	Travis Kvapil	Burger King Toyota	37.285	193.107
40	32	Ken Schrader	Federated Auto Parts Ford	Owner Points	190.638
41	10	Tony Raines	Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet	Owner Points	188.216
42	99	Carl Edwards	Fastenal Ford	Owner Points
43	49	JJ Yeley	America Israel Racing/JPO Absorbents Toyota	36.901	195.117