Showtime Southern 500 Qualifying
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Showtime Southern 500 Qualifying
Date: May 6, 2011
Event: Showtime Southern 500 Qualifying (Round 10 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.366-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Kasey Kahne of Red Bull Racing (27.131 seconds at 181.254 mph)
SHR Lineup: Ryan Newman (2nd, 27.255 seconds at 180.429 mph)
Tony Stewart (9th, 27.456 seconds at 179.108 mph)
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Tornados Chevrolet Impala, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent in time trials at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway by qualifying second for Saturday night’s Showtime Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Newman turned a lap of 27.255 seconds at 180.429 mph on the 1.366-mile oval.
“I wasn’t sure what we could do with the sun coming out,” said Newman, who qualified on the pole for the 2003 Southern 500 at Darlington. “The first lap on the track, when it was close to green, was pretty nice because it was close to cool. I’m really proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. The Tornados Chevrolet was good off the truck. It was good in qualifying. We got a good starting spot and good pit selection. We’ll just try to do our best for tomorrow.”
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Impala for SHR, will start ninth after turning a lap of 27.456 seconds at 179.108 mph.
“I was just a little bit loose,” said Stewart, who won the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Darlington but has just three top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 18 career Sprint Cup starts at the venerable track. “I was loose coming to the green-flag lap and that killed the straightaway speed taking the green flag. I keyed the button on the radio and told Darian (Grubb, crew chief) we were going to have to do it on the second lap. Just tried to get a feel for it the first lap without giving everything away and then ran hard the second lap.”
The last time both SHR drivers qualified in the top-10 was five races ago at the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. There, Stewart qualified fifth and Newman qualified ninth.
“We got a good start to the weekend,” Stewart added. “Now, it’s just a matter of staying the course. Ryan was good in practice and qualified well, and we qualified a little bit better than we practiced. So, I’m excited about it. This is a place where track position means a lot, and to have two good starting spots and two good pit selections should be a good way to start the night.”
Kasey Kahne captured his 21st career Sprint Cup pole, his first of the season and his fourth at Darlington by posting a track-record lap of 27.131 seconds at 181.254 mph. Kahne broke the previous track qualifying record of 27.264 seconds at 180.370 mph set by Jamie McMurray on May 8, 2010.
Defending Showtime Southern 500 winner Denny Hamlin (27.300 seconds at 180.132 mph) qualified third, while Carl Edwards (27.323 seconds at 179.980 mph) and Jeff Gordon (27.346 seconds at 179.829 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the Showtime Southern 500. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Scott Riggs, Andy Lally and Brian Keselowski.
As far as manufacturers went, Toyota took the top spot with Kahne’s pole-winning run, while Chevrolet was next best behind Newman’s runner-up effort. Ford was the third-best make thanks to Edwards, and 10th-quick Brad Keselowski (27.460 seconds at 179.082 mph) carried the flag for Dodge.
The Showtime Southern 500 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-
