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Sprint Cup
CUP: Montoya On Hallowdega Pole
Juan Pablo Montoya won his second career Talladega pole...
NASCAR hasn't traditionally awarded points for winning the pole. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers will tell you that where they qualify at Talladega Superspeedway has nothing whatsoever to do with driver ability and everything to do with horsepower and aerodynamics. The driver simply mashes the accelerator pedal for two laps and what he gets is what he gets.
And the drivers will tell you that where they qualify at the 2.66-mile track really doesn’t have much to do with where they ultimately finish after 188 grueling laps on Sunday.
But winning the pole at Talladega is still a big deal.
Just ask Juan Pablo Montoya, who captured the pole for Sunday’s Amp Energy Juice 500 with a lap of 184.640 miles per hour in his No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. It was Montoya’s third pole of the season, fifth of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career and second at Talladega.
“This place in the draft, there is nothing like it,” said Montoya, who is still looking for his first oval track victory after 141 career Sprint Cup starts. “This place by itself, there is nothing like it either but on the other end.”
Qualifying on the outside of Row 1 was Clint Bowyer, who ran 184.498 mph in the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Both cars on the front row are powered by Earnhardt-Childress Racing engines, the same motors that have won all three prior restrictor-plate races this season.
For his part, Bowyer was disappointed to come up just .04 seconds short of the pole.
“Close but no cigar,” said Bowyer. “But a good qualifying run helps with a lot of things, ego, just everything. The guys work hard to make sure they are fast on qualifying day and build the fastest thing possible. They come close to it. There is just not a whole lot to look forward to on qualifying day and when you are that close (to the pole) then you are really frustrated.”
Row 2 featured a pair of surprises: Kurt Busch’s No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge, which had a lap of 184.388 mph, and the go-or-go-home Toyota of Front Row Joe Nemechek, 181.322 mph.
“This is one of the biggest moments of my (Saturday) career at a restrictor-plate weekend, to come into the media center after qualifying,” said Busch, not known as a great restrictor-plate racer, though he did finish second in the 2008 Daytona 500. “I’ve never been in the top-three. I had a shot at the front row all the way until (Clint) Bowyer went out. It’s a whole different feeling. To see the crew guys slapping high-fives and Steve Addington having that smug smile on his face knowing that he achieved something special.”
Nemechek was equally pleased.
“I’m proud of the whole team,” he said. “We take a lot of pride in our speedway stuff and normally run really well when we come to the restrictor-plate tracks. Our engines come from Triad – have to give those guys all the credit because what’s underneath that hood is mainly how fast you go. John Dysinger (head engine builder, Triad Racing Technologies) and all those guys work really hard. We’re going to run the whole race and hopefully we can be around at the end and we can make a difference.”
Bowyer’s RCR teammate, Jeff Burton, will start on the inside of Row 3, after qualifying at 184.161 mph. He will be flanked by perennial NASCAR favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has a particularly strong following at Talladega, a track where he has five previous victories. Earnhardt qualified at 183.906 mph in his Hallowdega-themed Hendrick Motorsports Chevy.
“I always like coming here and it's a fun track,” said Earnhardt. “We've got a pretty good car. We normally bring a good one here. We had a couple of chances of being in the mix there in the last few and just had some things happen and hopefully we'll have a good opportunity to make it right this time. The car ran a good qualifying lap and has good speed.”
Completing the top 10 were Dave Blaney in Tommy Baldwin’s Chevrolet, Ryan Newman’s Stewart-Haas Chevrolet, Dave Blaney’s Germain Racing Toyota and Sam Hornish Jr. in a second Penske Dodge.
The points leaders were within five positions of each other: Jimmie Johnson was 19th, Denny Hamlin 17th and Kevin Harvick 14th.
Failing to qualify were Travis Kvapil, Johnny Sauter and Landon Cassill.
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.
And the drivers will tell you that where they qualify at the 2.66-mile track really doesn’t have much to do with where they ultimately finish after 188 grueling laps on Sunday.
But winning the pole at Talladega is still a big deal.
Just ask Juan Pablo Montoya, who captured the pole for Sunday’s Amp Energy Juice 500 with a lap of 184.640 miles per hour in his No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. It was Montoya’s third pole of the season, fifth of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career and second at Talladega.
“This place in the draft, there is nothing like it,” said Montoya, who is still looking for his first oval track victory after 141 career Sprint Cup starts. “This place by itself, there is nothing like it either but on the other end.”
Qualifying on the outside of Row 1 was Clint Bowyer, who ran 184.498 mph in the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Both cars on the front row are powered by Earnhardt-Childress Racing engines, the same motors that have won all three prior restrictor-plate races this season.
For his part, Bowyer was disappointed to come up just .04 seconds short of the pole.
“Close but no cigar,” said Bowyer. “But a good qualifying run helps with a lot of things, ego, just everything. The guys work hard to make sure they are fast on qualifying day and build the fastest thing possible. They come close to it. There is just not a whole lot to look forward to on qualifying day and when you are that close (to the pole) then you are really frustrated.”
Row 2 featured a pair of surprises: Kurt Busch’s No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge, which had a lap of 184.388 mph, and the go-or-go-home Toyota of Front Row Joe Nemechek, 181.322 mph.
“This is one of the biggest moments of my (Saturday) career at a restrictor-plate weekend, to come into the media center after qualifying,” said Busch, not known as a great restrictor-plate racer, though he did finish second in the 2008 Daytona 500. “I’ve never been in the top-three. I had a shot at the front row all the way until (Clint) Bowyer went out. It’s a whole different feeling. To see the crew guys slapping high-fives and Steve Addington having that smug smile on his face knowing that he achieved something special.”
Nemechek was equally pleased.
“I’m proud of the whole team,” he said. “We take a lot of pride in our speedway stuff and normally run really well when we come to the restrictor-plate tracks. Our engines come from Triad – have to give those guys all the credit because what’s underneath that hood is mainly how fast you go. John Dysinger (head engine builder, Triad Racing Technologies) and all those guys work really hard. We’re going to run the whole race and hopefully we can be around at the end and we can make a difference.”
Bowyer’s RCR teammate, Jeff Burton, will start on the inside of Row 3, after qualifying at 184.161 mph. He will be flanked by perennial NASCAR favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has a particularly strong following at Talladega, a track where he has five previous victories. Earnhardt qualified at 183.906 mph in his Hallowdega-themed Hendrick Motorsports Chevy.
“I always like coming here and it's a fun track,” said Earnhardt. “We've got a pretty good car. We normally bring a good one here. We had a couple of chances of being in the mix there in the last few and just had some things happen and hopefully we'll have a good opportunity to make it right this time. The car ran a good qualifying lap and has good speed.”
Completing the top 10 were Dave Blaney in Tommy Baldwin’s Chevrolet, Ryan Newman’s Stewart-Haas Chevrolet, Dave Blaney’s Germain Racing Toyota and Sam Hornish Jr. in a second Penske Dodge.
The points leaders were within five positions of each other: Jimmie Johnson was 19th, Denny Hamlin 17th and Kevin Harvick 14th.
Failing to qualify were Travis Kvapil, Johnny Sauter and Landon Cassill.
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.
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