Kyle Busch won the pole during a truncated session of Monster Energy Cup Series qualifying Friday night at Kentucky Speedway, cut short by inclement weather.
Busch’s lap of 190.282 mph during the second round set a track record and earned him the top starting position for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400. Toyota teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth, qualified second and third, respectively.
The pole is Busch’s third of the season, all of which have come in the past six races. The 2015 series champion is still seeking his first victory of the 2017 season.
“Certainly this is worthwhile for our team and everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing,” Busch said. “The guys have done an amazing job this year at building faster race cars as we’ve gone on this year, we started out a little behind. Just right there so close having an opportunity to win each and every week, we just need to bust through and get it to happen.”
Jamie McMurray in a Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet starts fourth, with Denny Hamlin in a Toyota in fifth. Completing the top 10 were Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, rookie Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski, whose track record Busch toppled.
NASCAR canceled qualifying after two of three rounds were completed due to lightning in the area and with a severe storm forecasted. Officials also postponed Friday night’s Xfinity Series race until Saturday afternoon.
Points leader Kyle Larson did not record a speed after his No. 42 Chevrolet did not pass pre-qualifying technical inspection in time for Larson to get on the track. He will start last in the 40-car field. Larson had similar issues getting through inspection at Texas Motor Speedway in April and at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.
“We will be fine from the back,” Larson said. “Obviously, it will be hard to pass, but we also thought the same thing at Texas and we didn’t get to qualify there and I cruised right to the front no problem. So, we will see.”