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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Truex Claims PIR Pole
Martin Truex Jr. will start from the pole at PIR on Sunday...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted November 13, 2009   Avondale, AZ
Martin Truex Jr. qualified first for the NASCAR Sprint Series Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Martin Truex Jr. won the pole for Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, while three-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson will roll off third behind Truex and Kurt Busch.

It was the fourth pole of Truex’s career and the third of 2009, to go along with the top spot for the Daytona 500 and the second Atlanta race.

Points leader Johnson was the 15th car out among the 46 attempting to make the race and early on set the pace as he pursues a fourth consecutive championship.

Johnson’s better of his two qualifying laps in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS was 134.454 miles per hour. He was on the pole through the first 25 drivers until Truex went out and ran a lap of 134.887 mph in his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevy.

“It was a good lap. We were pretty good in practice,” Truex said. “The car was really good and I was happy with it. I wasn’t sure it was going to be that good.”

Kurt Busch, the 33rd driver to go out, turned a lap of 134.579 mph in his Penske Racing Dodge Charger, a speed that earned him a spot on the grid on the outside of Row 1. “Honestly, the lap was so loose I felt like I was wasting time,” said Busch, last week’s winner at Texas. “ … It felt more like a 10th-place lap than second.”

Completing the top five were Kasey Kahne in a Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge, followed by the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Denny Hamlin. The second five consisted of Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Casey Mears and Mark Martin.

Martin drew the coveted 35th qualifying position, the final spot among drivers locked into the field on owner points. The 11 cars that had to qualify on speed all went out after the top 35 in owner points, so Martin had the best draw of the locked-in racers.

Expected to challenge for the pole, Martin instead qualified a disappointing 10th. “It just didn’t hook up,” said Martin. “I needed a breathtakingly spectacular lap and got a below-average lap.”

Three drivers failed to qualify: Kevin Conway, Regan Smith and Brandon Ash.

CHECKER O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 500 QUALIFYING RESULTS

Phoenix Practice 1 Results

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of ?Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,? and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to



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