Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 Qualifying Report
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 Qualifying Report
Date: June 18, 2011
Event: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 Qualifying (Round 15 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn (2-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Kurt Busch of Penske Racing (38.156 seconds at 188.699 mph)
SHR Lineup: Tony Stewart (6th, 38.384 seconds at 187.578 mph)
Ryan Newman (13th, 38.456 seconds at 187.227 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 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn by qualifying sixth for Sunday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Stewart turned a lap of 38.384 seconds at 187.578 mph on the 2-mile oval.
“We worked through a different package that we haven’t run before and probably were a little bit behind there in the second (practice) session,” said Stewart, who has one win at Michigan, coming in June 2000. “I’m really proud of Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and all these guys on the Office Depot/Mobil 1 team. They did a great job with this Chevy. We got pretty close at the end of the session. We went a different direction and had to work through some things, but I think we have a car that is close enough that we can adjust it tomorrow during the race.”
SHR’s Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army 236th Birthday Chevrolet Impala honoring NASCAR Hall of Famer Bud Moore, will start 13th after turning a lap of 38.456 seconds at 187.227 mph.
“We made some changes with the racecar, and it definitely felt a little bit better,” said Newman, who has two wins at Michigan – August 2003 and June 2004. “We still have a lot of things to work on. I got everything I could out of the racecar, but it was still a little bit free.
“I’m just very proud to represent the U.S. Army and to have Bud Moore on the racecar. That is really special. Bud Moore is a true American hero and he is a NASCAR legend at the same time. It’s an honor to represent him, especially on the weekend of the birthday of the U.S. Army.”
For the third consecutive week, Kurt Busch captured the pole, this time with a lap of 38.156 seconds at 188.699 mph. It was the 15th Sprint Cup pole of his career, his third of the season and his second at Michigan. The pole run was also the fourth consecutive pole for Penske Racing, as Busch’s teammate, Brad Keselowski, earned the pole four races ago at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
David Reutimann will start alongside Busch on the outside of row one, as he timed in at 38.159 seconds at 188.684. Matt Kenseth (38.172 seconds at 188.620 mph) was third, while Brian Vickers (38.266 seconds at 188.157 mph) and Regan Smith (38.378 seconds at 187.607 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Tony Raines, Brian Keselowski and Mike Skinner.
As far as manufacturers went, it was a model of parity. Dodge took the top spot via Busch’s pole run, with Toyota next best thanks to Reutimann. Ford was third-quickest via Kenseth, and carrying the flag for Chevrolet was Smith.
The Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 gets underway at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live coverage provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at noon.
-SHR-
