Crown Royal 400 Qualifying
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Crown Royal 400 Qualifying
Date: April 29, 2011
Event: Crown Royal 400 Qualifying (Round 9 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Richmond (Va.) International Raceway (.75-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Juan Pablo Montoya of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (20.989 seconds at 128.639 mph)
SHR Lineup: Ryan Newman (13th, 21.181 seconds at 127.473 mph)
Tony Stewart (31st, 21.308 seconds at 126.713 mph)
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army Medicine Chevrolet Impala, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent in time trials at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway by qualifying 13th for Saturday night’s Crown Royal 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Newman turned a lap of 21.181 seconds at 127.473 mph on the .75-mile oval.
“I really don’t have any complaints,” said Newman, who won the September 2003 Sprint Cup race at Richmond. “We had two good practices today in race trim and feel we can be as strong as we’ve been in the past at this track. We want to get out of the gate quickly tomorrow night. If you start falling back, you can get lapped pretty easily here. But I’m confident that we’ll be running with the lead pack.”
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala for SHR, will start 31st after turning a lap of 21.308 seconds at 126.713 mph.
“We’re not far off, but we definitely have some work to do during the race to fine-tune our stuff,” said Stewart, who has three Sprint Cup wins and two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victories at Richmond. “Really just need to cut the corner better so that we can improve our exit (off the corner).”
Juan Pablo Montoya captured his seventh career Sprint Cup pole, his second of the season and his first at Richmond by posting a lap of 20.989 seconds at 128.639 mph.
Regan Smith will start alongside Montoya on the outside of row one, as he timed in at 21.031 seconds at 128.382 mph. Clint Bowyer (21.049 seconds at 128.272 mph) was third, while Kasey Kahne (21.069 seconds at 128.150 mph) and Mark Martin (21.085 seconds at 128.053 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-four drivers attempted to qualify for the Crown Royal 400. The lone driver not making the cut in the 43-car field was Brian Keselowski
As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took five of the top-six spots, with Toyota the lone make to crack the top-five via fourth-quick Kahne. Dodge was the third-best make thanks to seventh-quick Brad Keselowski (21.092 seconds at 128.011 mph). Eighth-quick Carl Edwards (21.093 seconds at 128.005 mph) carried the flag for Ford.
The Crown Royal 400 gets underway at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m.
-SHR-
