Winning Southern 500 pole ‘means a lot’ for Keselowski
Brad Keselowski says he picked the right track to get his first pole this season.
The Penske driver turned the fastest lap (178.874) in the final round of qualifying Saturday to win the pole for Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
It was Keselowski’s ninth career pole, but first since winning one at Richmond on Sept. 6, 2014. He won five poles last year.
“It is probably the biggest pole I have ever had,” Keselowski said. “I always thought of Darlington as being one of the elite tracks. Darlington is definitely in the top five, maybe top two or three. Any success you can have at tracks like Darlington is huge. In that sense, it is a great accomplishment. To me personally, it means a lot.”
Keselowski will be joined in the first row by Kurt Busch (177.578). Defending Southern 500 champion Kevin Harvick was third, and Joey Logano was fourth. Jeff Gordon, who is making his final Darlington start, will start fifth.
Travis Kvapil, Timmy Hill and Josh Wise failed to qualify for the race.
Danica to the back
Danica Patrick qualified 30th for Sunday’s race, but will have to start in the rear of the field after she tagged the wall during the first round of qualifying.
Patrick was shown on TV as being visibly upset with her crew chief Daniel Knost after the incident. Stewart-Haas competition director Greg Zipadelli told reporters the reason for Patrick’s anger was because of being sent out to the track for one more lap.
Kyle Busch looks to lock up Chase spot
Kyle Busch can lock up a spot in the Chase if he leaves Darlington with at least a 48-point lead over the 31st-place driver.
Busch missed the first 11 races after suffering a leg injury in the season-opening Xfinity Series race at Daytona. NASCAR granted Busch a waiver to be eligible for the Chase as long as he is in the top 30 in points following the 26th race.
Busch, who has four wins this season, is 29th in points. He has one win and six top-10 finishes in 10 career Cup starts at Darlington.
Busch finished second in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.
Most popular driver award
Voting for the National Motorsports Press Association Sprint Most Popular Driver award begins Sunday.
Fans can visit www.mostpopulardriveraward.com until Nov. 22 to vote for their favorite driver. The winner will be announced Dec. 4 at the Sprint Cup awards in Las Vegas. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won the award the past 12 years.
Petty pleased with Labor Day return
Richard Petty was among those glad to see the Southern 500 back on Labor Day weekend and has liked seeing the different throwback paint schemes.
Petty’s driver, Aric Almirola, will be driving the STP paint scheme that is similar to the one he drove in the 1970s. Almirola also is sporting the Petty’s handlebar mustache he wore during that period.
“This is when Darlington is supposed to be, on Labor Day. It was a real holiday in this part of the country,” Petty said. “The throwback paint schemes are a welcome home deal. Darlington has always been a throwback but this will give us more publicity when we come back and that is what it is all about.”
Junior at Darlington
After struggling early in his career at Darlington, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has shown progress over the last 10 races.
Earnhardt Jr. has finished 18th or better during the span, including a career-best second last year. He will start Sunday’s race in 26th after not making it past the first round of qualifying.
What they said
“This is a ballsy race track.” Brad Keselowski on Darlington
“The Lady in Black, she will spin you around or spit you out if you treat her the wrong way.” Sprint Cup driver Kurt Busch
This story was originally published September 5, 2015 at 6:21 PM.