Tony Stewart Barely Beats Brad Keselowski's Time to Take the Pole at Texas

         With a time of 27.628 seconds (195.454 mph), Tony Stewart barely bested Brad Keselowski's quick time in the third round to take the pole for Sunday's race at Texas. Stewart, literally and figuratively, barely bested Keselowski's time. Stewart's lap turned out to five one thousandths ahead of his counterpart's time. Plus, Stewart ran the fast lap just as the time expired on the session. Stewart struggled a bit during the early part of the year, but he seems to have made his way back to the top as the last few weeks have been pretty good. Keselowski almost became the first driver to win two poles in 2014, but he will have to settle with second place for the start of Sunday's race. Kevin Harvick set the track record in the first round of qualifying and he will start third tomorrow. Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards finished out the top 5 for Roush-Fenway Racing. A good many drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and others missed the third round of qualifying and they will start outside of the top 12. Each of them will be in a battle tomorrow on a very rough track surface where tires are going to be key for each of the drivers. Today's qualifying session was filled with a good bit of action as drivers flew around the fast Texas Motor Speedway.

        Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the first driver on track for the start of the twenty five minute first round. He ran an early track record speed and held the top spot in the first minute. Junior wouldn't remain at the top long as Ryan Newman jumped to the top of the board three minutes into the first round. Newman wouldn’t get comfortable as Kevin Harvick jumped to the top five minutes into the round with a track record speed. Things at the top calmed down as the rest of the drivers ran their laps. The minutes clicked through the session as the battle began to heat up around the transfer spot with only ten minutes remaining. Denny Hamlin held the twenty fourth spot as Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, A.J. Allmendinger, and others looked to move on to the second round of qualifying. The minutes continued to click down as the battles continued. Cars returned to the track looking to move on and drivers moved up and down spots just as the red and black flag waved. Denny Hamlin held onto the twenty fourth and final transfer spot to move on. Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Austin Dillon, Danica Patrick, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, and others moved on to the second round while Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, and others missed the second round. Now, twenty four drivers would face off in a ten minute round to make the third and final round.

        Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the first driver on track for the start of the ten minute second round. He ran a decent lap that seemed to be okay for the third round. One minute into the round, Marcos Ambrose jumped to the top of the board. Just a minute later, Brad Keselowski jumped to the top. Greg Biffle went out seconds later and passed him. Biffle remained at the top as the round reached halfway. The battle with five minutes remaining was for the transfer spot. Kyle Larson held it as Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Austin Dillon, Martin Truex Jr., and others were looking to move on. The minutes began to click down as cars returned to the track for a second run. With a minute remaining, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin managed to push their way into the third round as Kyle Larson fell out of the top twelve. Cars continued to turn laps as the red and black flag waved. Marcos Ambrose stayed in the final transfer spot in the final minute and he moved on. Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Trevor Bayne, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, and Denny Hamlin moved on while Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., and others missed the third round. Now, twelve of the best drivers in NASCAR would fight for the pole in a five minute final round.

        Joey Logano was the first driver on track to start the five minute final round. He ran a decent lap, but others would be battling for the pole. As soon as the session started, the drivers began to switch the provisional pole at the top. First, it was Ryan Newman on top. Then, it was Greg Biffle on pole just a few seconds later. A minute later, Brad Keselowski jumped to the top of the pylon. Keselowski looked to be in control as all the rest of the final round drivers headed on track. All the drivers had been out with about thirty seconds remaining except for Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. Both crossed the line before the red and black flag waved and they were on hot laps as time expired. They could finish their laps to see where they would qualify. Gordon was ahead of Stewart and he ran a slower lap than the rest of the eleven drivers. Stewart was behind Gordon and he came out of turn 4 flying. Stewart nipped the line and everyone was holding their breath. Stewart had beaten Keselowski's lap and he was on the pole for the first time in 2014. Stewart needs a momentum shift and this pole should help with that.

       Most people know the struggles Tony Stewart has experienced recently. He broke his leg last August in a sprint car crash and he missed the final races of the season. Stewart made the comeback at Daytona and the early part of the season for him looked bleak. In recent weeks, he has performed well and now he will start first on Sunday. All he needs is a lone win to make the Chase and his season could take off. Brad Keselowski couldn't believe he lost the pole in the final seconds, but he can't complain about another front row start on the young season. Kevin Harvick continued his mostly good year thus far at Stewart-Haas Racing with a third place starting spot for tomorrow. Greg Biffle will start fourth at a track where Fords usually perform really well. Carl Edwards will start fifth in a Roush-Fenway Racing Ford just behind his teammate. Denny Hamlin was the fastest Toyota in the session and he will roll off sixth. Kyle Busch, who won the spring race at Texas a season ago, had a terrible session and he will roll off twenty ninth. Jimmie Johnson, who won the fall race at Texas last year, will roll off a decent sixteenth, but he said after qualifying that he has a great race running car. Dale Earnhardt Jr., the current points leader, will roll off nineteenth. The rest of the field is sprinkled with good drivers from front to back. Texas racing has always been a very good show and this year seems like it will be no different. The field will have to battle strategy and worn out tires throughout the day along with their fellow competitors. Tomorrow's race is certainly going to be interesting. Will Kyle Busch win two straight Texas spring races, will Jimmie Johnson go back-to-back at Texas, will Dale Earnhardt Jr. hold his points lead at the track he won his first race, or will another driver head to the Texas victory lane? We only have to wait until tomorrow to find these answers out and a whole lot more.
(More Stats Down Below!)




Top 5 Qualifiers (With Times):
1st: Tony Stewart     27.628 (195.454 mph)
2nd: Brad Keselowski      27.633 (195.419 mph)
3rd: Kevin Harvick      27.650 (195.298 mph)
4th: Greg Biffle      27.735 (194.700 mph)
5th: Carl Edwards      27.744 (194.637 mph)

Notables Not in Top 5 (With Times):
6th: Denny Hamlin      27.746 (194.623 mph)
10th: Joey Logano     27.872 (193.743 mph)
11th: Kurt Busch     27.961 (193.126 mph)
12th: Jeff Gordon     28.112 (192.089 mph)
16th: Jimmie Johnson      27.834 (194.007 mph)*
19th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.      27.928 (193.354 mph)*
24th: Danica Patrick     28.014 (192.761 mph)*
26th: Matt Kenseth     27.744 (194.637 mph)#
29th: Kyle Busch     27.758 (194.539 mph)#
32nd: Kasey Kahne     27.831 (194.028 mph)#
(*: These few drivers were faster than some in the top twelve, but they did not advance to the final round.)
(#: These drivers were faster than some in the top twenty four, but they did not advance to the second round.)

DNQs:
44th: David Stremme     28.308 (190.759 mph)
45th: Ryan Truex      28.511 (189.401 mph)
46th: Joe Nemechek     28.634 (188.587 mph)
47th: J.J. Yeley     29.120 (185.440 mph)




Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-qualification.html
http://racing-reference.info/getqualify/2014-07/W
-Image:
http://www.crash.net/nascar/news/201815/1/stewart-rises-to-clinch-pole-in-texas.html