Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Darlington NASCAR: Kurt Busch takes surprise pole for Furniture Row

Kurt Busch upstaged the usual frontrunners to give NASCAR Sprint Cup underdog Furniture Row Racing pole position for Saturday night's Darlington race

The result was only Furniture Row's second ever Cup pole and its first since 2008.

Fresh from testing an Andretti Autosport IndyCar at Indianapolis on Thursday, Busch set a new track record at Darlington as he lapped in 27.032 seconds.

Furniture Row's only Cup-level victory also came at Darlington, with Regan Smith in 2011.

Kyle Busch had a shot at making it an all-Busch front row, but was unhappy with his lap and ended up third, between Hendrick pair Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne. Martin Truex Jr compled the top five.

After his tentative return to action at Talladega a week ago, Denny Hamlin will try to run the full distance on Saturday. He certainly did not lack speed in qualifying, where he took sixth on the grid.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time     Gap
 1.  Kurt Busch          Furniture Row Chevrolet      27.032s
 2.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           27.173s  + 0.141s
 3.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota             27.181s  + 0.149s
 4.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           27.208s  + 0.176s
 5.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               27.277s  + 0.245s
 6.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota             27.296s  + 0.264s
 7.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota             27.303s  + 0.271s
 8.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           27.304s  + 0.272s
 9.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            27.320s  + 0.288s
10.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          27.355s  + 0.323s
11.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          27.368s  + 0.336s
12.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  27.376s  + 0.344s
13.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota               27.381s  + 0.349s
14.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford            27.394s  + 0.362s
15.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          27.401s  + 0.369s
16.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           27.410s  + 0.378s
17.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            27.472s  + 0.440s
18.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   27.500s  + 0.468s
19.  Casey Mears         Germain Ford                 27.501s  + 0.469s
20.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       27.511s  + 0.479s
21.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       27.550s  + 0.518s
22.  Mark Martin         Waltrip Toyota               27.578s  + 0.546s
23.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota         27.593s  + 0.561s
24.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   27.630s  + 0.598s
25.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  27.631s  + 0.599s
26.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                  27.633s  + 0.601s
27.  Regan Smith         Phoenix Chevrolet            27.635s  + 0.603s
28.  Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                    27.669s  + 0.637s
29.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               27.676s  + 0.644s
30.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                  28.681s  + 1.649s
31.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford               27.682s  + 0.650s
32.  Landon Cassill      Circle Sport Chevrolet       27.736s  + 0.704s
33.  David Reutimann     BK Toyota                    27.775s  + 0.743s
34.  Josh Wise           Front Row Ford               27.835s  + 0.803s
35.  Michael McDowell    Parsons Ford                 27.837s  + 0.805s
36.  Scott Speed         Leavine Ford                 27.884s  + 0.852s
37.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            27.954s  + 0.922s
38.  Mike Bliss          Humphrey Smith Toyota        27.961s  + 0.929s
39.  David Stremme       Swan Toyota                  27.981s  + 0.949s
40.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       28.014s  + 0.982s
41.  Timmy Hill          FAS Lane Ford                28.080s  + 1.048s
42.  JJ Yeley            Baldwin Chevrolet            28.083s  + 1.051s
43.  Joe Nemecheck       NEMCO Toyota                 28.315s  + 1.283s

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Matt Kenseth's Kansas penalties reduced by NASCAR appeals panel
Next article Darlington NASCAR: Matt Kenseth wins, Denny Hamlin second on return

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe