Keselowski takes Michigan pole in all-Penske front row
Michigan native Brad Keselowski showed off in front of the home crowd on Friday.
Polesitter Brad Keselowski, Team Penske Ford
NASCAR Media
Keselowski posted his first-career pole at his home track — Michigan International Speedway — with a lap of 203.097mph. It was Keselowski’s 14th-career pole and his second in 2017.
“It kind of feels like the first time,” Keselowski said.
His Penske teammate Joey Logano will share the front row after posting a lap of 203.063mph. Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch will comprise the first three rows for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400.
Jamie McMurray qualified seventh followed by Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top 12.
Kesneth was the first driver out in all three rounds. He set the mark of 35.451-seconds (202.097mph). Keselowski, Logano, Harvick topped Kenseth with three minutes remaining in the session.
Erik Jones lap was sixth-quick initially, but he was a bumped by Kyle Busch and then Chase Elliott. Ryan Blaney, who led the first two rounds, could only muster the 12th-fastest lap — 201.235mph when he took to the track with two minutes to go. The No. 21 Ford bobbled twice coming through Turn 1 on his final qualifying attempt.
Round 2
Ryan Blaney swept the first two rounds of time trials. In the second round his top speed was 203.120mph on the clouded two-mile track.
Brad Keselowski vaulted to second-quick on his second attempt. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer transferred to the final round.
Again, Kenseth was the first driver to make a lap. He established a time 35.722-seconds (201.556mph). Keselowski was second with a speed of 201.556mph. Harvick jumped to P1 with a lap of 202.674mph followed by Jones (202.196mph), Kyle Busch (201.969mph), Kenseth, McMurray (200.893mph), Keselowski Austin Dillon, Earnhardt and Johnson.
“That’s about all I got,” Earnhardt said after his lap of 200.178mph.
At the seven-minute mark, Larson moved up to second but it was short-lived as Blaney posted the fast lap of 203.120mph. Harvick remained second followed by Larson, Logano, Elliott, Jones, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kenseth and Clint Bowyer with six minutes on the clock. Twenty-three drivers completed laps with five minutes to go.
Trevor Bayne was the last driver to make an attempt with just over two minutes on the clock. Austin Dillon returned to the track for a second attempt. With one minute remaining, Keselowski, Earnhardt and Busch took another shot. Keselowski jumped from 13th to second on the speed chart with a lap of 203.069mph. McMurray made a last dash after being bumped to 13th and claimed 10th.
“The damn thing was screaming, that was a killer run,” Keselowski said.
Round 1
Ryan Blaney was fastest in opening practice and carried that speed into the first round of qualifying.
Blaney posted a lap of 201.686mph to lead the session. Chase Elliott was second followed by Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson.
Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Trevor Bayne, Austin Dillon, Danica Patrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Aric Almirola transfered to the next trial.
Kenseth was the first driver to post a time — 36.157-seconds (199.132mph). Harvick bumped the No. 20 car with a lap of 200.289mph. After the first three minutes, Harvick remained on top followed by Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr. (198.211mph), Kahne, Ryan Newman, Almirola, AJ Allmendinger and Ty Dillon.
Chase Elliott was fastest of the first 11 cars. He topped the chart with a lap of 201.292mph. Just before the five-minute mark, Jones (200.239mph) vaulted to third followed by Johnson (199.137mph). Moments later, Truex ran the fourth fastest lap but with 14 minutes to go, Ryan Blaney jumped to the top of the leader board with his lap of 201.686mph. Thirteen minutes in Bowyer bumped up to ninth. Hamlin’s first lap of 199.839mph was fast enough for sixth — until Larson cruised up to third-quick with a lap of 201.072mph.
Just under 11 minutes, Logano claimed the sixth fastest speed of 200.228mph. His Penske teammate Brad Keselowski posted the 12th-quick lap of 198.890mph. He was knocked to 13th after Kyle Busch ran a lap of 199.784mph in his newly repaired No. 18 Toyota.
Thirty-six cars posted times with nine minutes remaining on the clock. Ty Dillon ran three laps but couldn’t improve on his 31st-place spot. Almirola, who was 25th, made his second attempt with 7.5-seconds to go. He matched Ryan Newman, who was on the bubble, then moved up to 21st — on his third lap with over six minutes to go.
Paul Menard was one of the last cars on the track but couldn’t break into the top 24. Newman and Landon Cassill made second attempts. Newman climbed up to 22nd and bumped Michael McDowell. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. shot up to seventh (200.161mph) on his first attempt and knocked Matt DiBenedetto out of the final transfer spot. Kahne’s second attempt carried the No. 5 Chevy to 11th quick — 199.275mph.
With less than a minute remaining, Almirola, Menard, Austin Dillon, McDowell and Allmendinger returned to the track. Almirola held on to 24th to transfer to Round 2.
Click on image to watch Keselowski talk about the winning his first pole award at Michigan:
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Time | Gap | Mph |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 35.451 | 203.097 | |
2 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 35.457 | 0.006 | 203.063 |
3 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 35.505 | 0.054 | 202.788 |
4 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 35.542 | 0.091 | 202.577 |
5 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 35.568 | 0.117 | 202.429 |
6 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 35.644 | 0.193 | 201.998 |
7 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 35.664 | 0.213 | 201.884 |
8 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 35.678 | 0.227 | 201.805 |
9 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 35.685 | 0.234 | 201.765 |
10 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 35.697 | 0.246 | 201.698 |
11 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 35.714 | 0.263 | 201.602 |
12 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 35.779 | 0.328 | 201.235 |
13 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 35.774 | 0.323 | 201.263 |
14 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 35.849 | 0.398 | 200.842 |
15 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 35.891 | 0.440 | 200.607 |
16 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 35.916 | 0.465 | 200.468 |
17 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 35.945 | 0.494 | 200.306 |
18 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 35.954 | 0.503 | 200.256 |
19 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 35.968 | 0.517 | 200.178 |
20 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 36.081 | 0.630 | 199.551 |
21 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 36.115 | 0.664 | 199.363 |
22 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 36.122 | 0.671 | 199.325 |
23 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 36.126 | 0.675 | 199.302 |
24 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 36.243 | 0.792 | 198.659 |
25 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 36.408 | 0.957 | 197.759 |
26 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 36.438 | 0.987 | 197.596 |
27 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 36.465 | 1.014 | 197.450 |
28 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 36.550 | 1.099 | 196.990 |
29 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 36.617 | 1.166 | 196.630 |
30 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 36.761 | 1.310 | 195.860 |
31 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 36.892 | 1.441 | 195.164 |
32 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 36.901 | 1.450 | 195.117 |
33 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 36.965 | 1.514 | 194.779 |
34 | 23 | Corey Lajoie | Toyota | 37.015 | 1.564 | 194.516 |
35 | 83 | Brett Moffitt | Toyota | 37.070 | 1.619 | 194.227 |
36 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 37.810 | 2.359 | 190.426 |
37 | 15 | Derrike Cope | Chevrolet | 38.271 | 2.820 | 188.132 |
38 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 38.468 | 3.017 | 187.169 |
39 | 51 | B.J. McLeod | Chevrolet | 38.710 | 3.259 | 185.998 |
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