The Joe Gibbs Racing Qualifying Report Presented by Interstate Batteries
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Best Buy 400
Date: May 30, 2008
Event: Best Buy 400 (Round 13 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Dover (Del.) International Speedway (1-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Greg Biffle of Roush Fenway Racing (23.193 seconds at 155.219 mph)
JGR Lineup: Kyle Busch (3rd, 23.412 seconds at 153.767 mph)
Tony Stewart (22nd, 23.672 seconds at 152.078 mph)
Denny Hamlin (33rd, 23.820 seconds at 151.134 mph)
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Combos Toyota, led the three-car Joe Gibbs Racing contingent in time trials at Dover (Del.) International Speedway by qualifying third for Sunday’s Best Buy 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Busch turned a lap of 23.412 seconds at 153.767 mph on the 1-mile oval.
“That was a good lap for us. Not as good as I would have expected it to be, but decent,” said Busch, who in six career Sprint Cup races at Dover has finished in the top-five four times, including back-to-back runner-up results in June and September 2005. “I think we were a little bit too tight in practice, and we made another qualifying run and we were real loose. So, we kind of picked a spot in between, and it was a little bit more conservative toward the tighter side. Just wasn’t quite happy with the way the car turned through the corner, but it’s quick right now.”
Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates – Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota and Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 FedEx Kinko’s Toyota – qualified 22nd and 33rd, respectively. Stewart turned a lap of 23.672 seconds at 152.078 mph while Hamlin stopped the clocks in 23.820 seconds at 151.134 mph.
“That lap wasn’t too bad,” said Stewart, who swept the two Sprint Cup races at Dover in 2000. “We really worked more on race setup than we did a qualifying setup in practice since Saturday is looking a little dicey weather-wise. I think we’re in good shape.”
“We were slower than what we were in practice,” said Hamlin, whose best Sprint Cup result at Dover is third, notched last September. “Our run wasn’t very good. We just didn’t have the speed that we had before, and now we’ll just have to start in the back.”
Greg Biffle captured his sixth career pole, his first at Dover and his second of the season with a time of 23.193 seconds at 155.219 mph. Kurt Busch will start alongside Biffle on the outside of row one, as he timed in at 23.381 seconds at 153.971 mph. Kyle Busch (23.412 seconds at 153.767 mph) was third, while Jimmie Johnson (23.414 seconds at 153.754 mph) and Jamie McMurray (23.438 seconds at 153.597 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-five drivers attempted to qualify for the Best Buy 400. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Chad McCumbee and Jason Leffler.
As far as manufacturers went, qualifying was a model of parity, with each manufacturer represented in the top-four. Ford took the top spot via the pole run made by Biffle. Dodge was next best at the hands of Kurt Busch, while Toyota was third-quickest thanks to Kyle Busch. Carrying the flag for Chevrolet was Johnson.
The Best Buy 400 gets underway at 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live, high-definition coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 1:30 p.m. The race will also be broadcast on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.
