Kobalt Tools 500k Qualifying
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Kobalt Tools 500k Qualifying
Date: Nov. 12, 2011
Event: Kobalt Tools 500k Qualifying (Round 35 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Matt Kenseth of Roush Fenway Racing (26.258 seconds at 137.101 mph)
SHR Lineup: Tony Stewart (8th, 26.488 seconds at 135.911 mph)
Ryan Newman (30th, 26.764 seconds at 134.509 mph)
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent in time trials Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway by qualifying eighth for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500k NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Stewart turned a lap of 26.488 seconds at 135.911 mph on the 1-mile oval.
“We did not get on the pole, but we had a nice, solid lap and that’s what we needed to do,” said Stewart, who won at Phoenix as a Sprint Cup rookie in November 1999. “I would like to have been a little better. I think our car is a little better than that. I was a little too free to run a faster lap than that. It was a solid run and we’re in good shape right now.”
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army Veterans Day Chevrolet Impala for SHR, will start 30th after turning a lap of 26.764 seconds at 134.509 mph.
“Not the lap we wanted,” said Newman, who won at Phoenix in April 2010 to score his first win in the No. 39 Chevrolet and the 14th of his Sprint Cup career. “There’s not a lot of grip in the track and we found that out.”
Matt Kenseth captured his seventh career Sprint Cup pole, his third of the season and his first at Phoenix by posting a lap of 26.258 seconds at 137.101 mph.
A.J. Allmendinger will start on the outside of row one as he timed in at 26.384 seconds at 136.446 mph. Marcos Ambrose was third (26.411 seconds at 136.307 mph), while Mark Martin (26.455 seconds at 136.080 mph) and Martin Truex Jr., (26.455 seconds at 136.080 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the Kobalt Tools 500k. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Scott Riggs, David Stremme and Andy Lally.
As far as manufacturers went, Ford took the top-three spots thanks to Kenseth, Allmendinger and Ambrose. Chevrolet was next best at the hands of Martin. The top Toyota was Truex, and carrying the flag for Dodge was 12th-quick Brad Keselowski (26.585 seconds at 135.415 mph).
The Kobalt Tools 500k gets underway at 3 p.m. EST on Sunday with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 2 p.m.
-SHR-
