Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods Qualifying
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods Qualifying
Date: Oct. 1, 2010
Event: Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods Qualifying (Round 29 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City (1.5-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Kasey Kahne of Richard Petty Motorsports (30.920 seconds at 174.644 mph)
SHR Lineup: Ryan Newman (6th, 31.008 seconds at 174.149 mph)
Tony Stewart (14th, 31.139 seconds at 173.416 mph)
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet Impala, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent in time trials at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City by qualifying sixth for Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Newman turned a lap of 31.008 seconds at 174.149 mph on the 1.5-mile oval.
“I pretty much got everything I could get out of the lap,” said Newman, who won at Kansas in October 2003. “The U.S. Army Chevrolet was a little snug in turns one and two, but after that it felt good. We’ll have a good starting position for Sunday’s race. I was really pleased with our car’s setup in practice. We’ll dial it in a little more during Saturday’s two practice sessions and then look forward to a successful race on Sunday.”
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala for SHR, will start 14th after turning a lap of 31.139 seconds at 173.416 mph.
“The Office Depot/Old Spice Chevy was just was really loose. It feels like the track gave up a little grip,” said Stewart, who is the defending winner of the Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods and has one other Sprint Cup win at Kansas (October 2006). “We missed backing up what we did in practice by a tenth, but I think there are a lot of guys that are happy maintaining what they ran in practice. It just seems like it’s a little warmer and lost a lot of grip compared to practice.”
Kasey Kahne captured his 19th career Sprint Cup pole, his third of the season and his second at Kansas by posting a lap of 30.920 seconds at 174.644 mph.
Kahne’s Richard Petty Motorsports teammate, Paul Menard, will start on the outside of row one, as he timed in at 30.951 seconds at 174.469 mph. Jeff Gordon was third (30.958 seconds at 174.430 mph), while Joey Logano (30.979 seconds at 174.312 mph) and Greg Biffle (30.989 seconds at 174.255 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Joe Nemechek, Mike Bliss and Jason Leffler.
As far as manufacturers went, Ford swept the front row thanks to Kahne and Menard. Chevrolet was next best at the hands of Gordon, while Toyota was the third-fastest make thanks to Logano. Kurt Busch, who qualified ninth, was the top Dodge at 31.057 seconds at 173.874 mph.
The Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods gets underway at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 3 with live coverage provided by ESPN. A pre-race show beginning at noon will air on ESPN2.
-SHR-
