Austin Dillon Makes History By Grabbing His Fourth Consecutive Pole of the Year at Michigan

       With a time of 37.523 seconds (191.882 mph), Austin Dillon grabbed his fourth consecutive pole of the season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and destroyed the track record he set last year at Michigan. He also became the first repeat polesitter at Michigan in the history of the Nationwide Series. His run was not without threats from other contenders. Paul Menard, Brian Scott, Trevor Bayne, and Alex Bowman all came within half a second of Dillon's lap, but his time held on for the pole. The session was one for the books with some of the fastest laps ever run in qualifying for the Nationwide Series.

       Carl Long was the first driver on the track. He ran a fairly slow lap, but he still made the field because only 39 cars attempted to make the race. The first change in the qualifying order was with Ken Butler III. NASCAR gave his team a little extra time to work on the car. He ran his qualifying lap after Jeremy Clements made his run and Butler will start 35th. The second change in the qualifying order was with Joey Gase. Gase blew an engine in practice on Friday so NASCAR allowed his team to work on the car. He went out last and wil start 36th. The pole switched back and forth between drivers until Chris Buescher grabbed the provisional pole. After he did this, Trevor Bayne, Brian Scott, and Paul Menard would take the provisional pole in that order. In fact, Paul Menard's lap also bested the track record set last year by Austin Dillon. It looked like a challenge for Austin Dillon, but it definitely did not seem like that. He went out in his scheduled last place and he ran a lap that was two tenths ahead of Paul Menard's speed. With Joey Gase's run, Dillon had made history and became the first driver to win four consecutive poles. 

        Dillon ran well last week at Iowa after winning the pole and dominating the race, but Trevor Bayne passed him late in the race for the win. He will look to take the momentum from his pole win to his first victory of the season. One storyline to follow in the race is the amount of championship contenders and race contenders stuck near the back of the field. Joey Logano, Sam Hornish Jr., Kyle Busch, Elliott Sadler, and Regan Smith all qualified outside the top 9. It will be fun to watch all of these drivers make their way to the front of the field. The race is later today on ABC and it is sure to be a good show.
(More Stats Down Below!)




Top 5 Qualifiers (With Times):
1st: Austin Dillon     37.523 (191.882 mph)
2nd: Paul Menard    37.762 (190.668 mph)
3rd: Brian Scott    37.831 (190.320 mph)
4th: Trevor Bayne     37.833 (190.310 mph)
5th: Alex Bowman    37.849 (190.230 mph)

Notables Not in Top 5 (With Times):
9th: Brian Vickers    38.058 (189.185 mph)
10th: Joey Logano     38.064 (189.155 mph)
12th: Travis Pastrana     38.076 (189.095 mph)
13th: Sam Hornish Jr.    38.104 (188.957 mph)
14th: Kyle Busch     38.123 (188.862 mph)
19th: Elliott Sadler     38.184 (188.561 mph)
20th: Regan Smith    38.215 (188.408 mph)

DNQs: None





Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-qualification.html
-Image:

http://www.hardcoreracefans.com/nationwide-news/7550-dillon-speeds-to-michigan-nationwide-poll-