The Joe Gibbs Racing Qualifying Report Presented by Interstate Batteries
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Coke Zero 400
Date: July 4, 2008
Event: Coke Zero 400 (Round 18 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Paul Menard of Dale Earnhardt Inc. (48.409 seconds at 185.916 mph)
JGR Lineup: Kyle Busch (9th, 48.694 seconds at 184.828 mph)
Denny Hamlin (15th, 48.773 seconds at 184.528 mph)
Tony Stewart (17th, 48.788 seconds at 184.472 mph)
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, led the three-car Joe Gibbs Racing contingent in time trials at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway by qualifying ninth for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Busch turned a lap of 48.694 seconds at 184.828 mph on the 2.5-mile oval.
“I feel like our car is pretty good in race trim and hopefully that’ll show tomorrow night with our Interstate Batteries Camry,” said Busch, who finished second in this race a year ago by a scant .005 of a second to winner Jamie McMurray. “Today only shows who has a fast car for today, not who has a car that will handle for tomorrow’s race.”
Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates – Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota and Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Home Depot – qualified 15th and 17th, respectively. Hamlin turned a lap of 48.773 seconds at 184.528 mph, while Stewart stopped the clocks in 48.788 seconds at 184.472 mph.
“Our lap was uneventful,” said Hamlin, who won at Daytona earlier this year when he finished first in his Gatorade Duel qualifying race for the Daytona 500. “We slowed down from what we ran in February, but that’s to be expected. We weren’t in qualifying trim like we were before. Pretty happy with it.”
“With the rain we only got that one (practice) session yesterday, so we really didn’t get much track time before qualifying today,” said Stewart, who scored back-to-back victories in the Coke Zero 400 in 2005 and 2006. “I was still a little bit tight. Zippy (Greg Zipadelli, crew chief) and I talked about it before we left. I think he’s got a great game plan for tomorrow and we’ll see where we’re at.”
Paul Menard captured his first career Sprint Cup pole with a time of 48.409 seconds at 185.916 mph. Mark Martin, Menard’s teammate at Dale Earnhardt Inc., will start on the outside of row one, as he timed in at 48.421 seconds at 185.870 mph. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (48.534 seconds at 185.437 mph) was third, while Joe Nemechek (48.573 seconds at 185.288 mph) and Johnny Sauter (48.583 seconds at 185.250 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-five drivers attempted to qualify for the Coke Zero 400. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Scott Riggs and J.J. Yeley.
As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet swept the top-five, while the next quickest make was Ford at the hands of sixth-quick David Ragan (48.584 seconds at 185.246 mph). Toyota was the third-fastest make thanks to Busch. And carrying the flag for Dodge was 10th-quick Patrick Carpentier (48.734 seconds at 184.676 mph).
The Coke Zero 400 gets underway at 8 p.m. EDT on Saturday with live, high-definition coverage provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at 6:30 p.m. The race will also be broadcast on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.
