AAA Texas 500 Qualifying
STEWART-HAAS RACING
AAA Texas 500 Qualifying
Date: Nov. 4, 2011
Event: AAA Texas 500 Qualifying (Round 34 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Greg Biffle of Roush Fenway Racing (27.873 seconds at 193.736 mph)
SHR Lineup: Tony Stewart (5th, 27.942 seconds at 193.257 mph)
Ryan Newman (24th, 28.210 seconds at 191.421 mph)
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Impala, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent in time trials Friday at Texas Motor Speedway by qualifying fifth for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Stewart turned a lap of 27.942 seconds at 193.257 mph on the 1.5-mile oval.
“Definitely it has been a good day. To be third in practice and top-five in qualifying, that’s exactly the way you have to start the weekend off,” said Stewart, who won at Texas in November 2006. “We got a little bit tight, but we still had a good pick-up. How close qualifying was, I mean, seven-hundredths off and we were fifth, but still pretty happy with it.”
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Carrier Classic Chevrolet Impala for SHR, will start 24th after turning a lap of 28.210 seconds at 191.421 mph.
“The car just wasn’t in the track,” said Newman, who won at Texas in April 2003. “It just felt like the car was on top of the track and wasn’t stuck to it like we need it to be. We’ve got two practice sessions tomorrow with our Quicken Loans Carrier Classic Chevrolet so we’ll see what we can do.”
Greg Biffle captured his ninth career Sprint Cup pole, his third of the season and his first at Texas by posting a lap of 27.873 seconds at 193.736 mph.
Roush Fenway Racing drivers took the top-three spots, as David Ragan was second at 27.874 seconds at 193.729 mph, while Matt Kenseth was third at 27.884 seconds at 193.659 mph. Paul Menard (27.916 seconds at 193.437 mph) and Stewart rounded out the top-five.
Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the AAA Texas 500. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were David Stremme, David Starr and Reed Sorenson.
As far as manufacturers went, Ford took the top-three spots thanks to the Roush Fenway Racing trio of Biffle, Ragan and Kenseth. Chevrolet was next best at the hands of Menard. The top Toyota came via sixth-fastest David Reutimann (27.953 seconds at 193.181 mph), and carrying the flag for Dodge was eighth-quick Brad Keselowski (27.976 seconds at 193.023 mph).
The AAA Texas 500 gets underway at 3 p.m. EST on Sunday, Nov. 6 with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 2 p.m.
-SHR-
