.jpg)
Brad Keselowski was the first driver on track for the start of the first round. He looked fine through turns 1 and 2, but his truck broke loose up the track in turn 4 and he lost a ton of time. The lap put him deep in the pack, but he would head out for a second time and ensure he would make the second round. Early on in the round, German Quiroga, who was fastest in practice this morning, jumped to the top of the board. A minute later, Kyle Busch proved he would have the truck to beat as he jumped to the top of the board with ease ahead of the field. The rest of the drivers began to head on track and the round didn't have too much action. Drivers were shooting up towards the top of the board, but Busch was still fastest with about ten minutes to go. A few drivers near the back of the field like J.J. Yeley, T.J. Bell, and Jimmy Weller began to look towards making the top twenty four. With four minutes left, T.J. Bell was holding the final transfer spot. J.J. Yeley went out and took that spot with ease. The rest of the drivers looked to guarantee moving onto the second round, but the first round ended with the running order the same. Yeley took the final transfer spot and Kyle Busch remained the fastest. Brad Keselowski, German Quiroga, Matt Crafton, Jeb Burton, Austin Dillon, Johnny Sauter, Darrell Wallace Jr., and many of the other important contenders moved on while a few underfunded drivers missed the second round. After a calm first round, the other two rounds would be very heated.
Ron Hornaday Jr. was the first driver on track for the second round. He ran a decent lap to start the round, but only time would tell if he would make the top twelve. Early on, Kyle Busch jumped to the top of the board in the round like the first round. Just as the first minute passed in the round, Austin Dillon had the first trouble of the session. He drove into turn 2 and his truck broke loose. Dillon chased it up the track towards the outside wall and he slammed into it. He drove away and towards pit road with damage, but his crew would work to fix the truck and he wouldn't head to a back-up. The trouble caused by Dillon brought the round to a stop for the moment. After a quick clean-up, the drivers began to head back on track. Drivers began to look to beat Busch, but he still remained out front with about five minutes to go. That changed when Darrell Wallace Jr. jumped to the top with about five minutes left thanks to drafting help from German Quiroga. Wallace held onto the top while the minutes started to click down in the round. With about two minutes left, the battle began to heat up for the twelfth and final transfer spot. Brad Keselowski, Corey LaJoie, Joe Nemechek, Max Gresham, and others were looking to jump ahead of Ron Hornaday Jr., who held the final transfer spot for the moment. All of the drivers outside the top twelve began to head on track in the waning moments of the round. It looked like a few drivers would move to the third round, but Ron Hornaday Jr. remained in the final transfer spot as the red and black flag waved. Darrell Wallace Jr. remained the fastest in the round as he looked for the pole. German Quiroga, Kyle Busch, Johnny Sauter, Ryan Blaney, Timothy Peters, Ben Kennedy, Tayler Malsam, Joey Coulter, Jeb Burton, and Matt Crafton moved on while Brad Keselowski, John Wes Townley, Joe Nemechek, and others missed the final round. Now, five minutes would decide the pole winner for the Kentucky race for the Truck Series.
The green flag waved for the final round and all trucks stopped on pit road waiting for the draft. German Quiroga decided to break the mold and he immediately went out for his run without drafting help. He ran a decent lap by himself, but others would be faster in the draft. The seconds began to tick away and the rest of the field remained on pit road. With about two minutes left, Ron Hornaday Jr. went on track by himself and ran a lap while the field still on pit road. With a minute left, only those two drivers had run a lap in the round. With forty five seconds left to go, the drivers began to head on track. All went flying onto the track, trying to make the line before the red and black flag waved to end the session. All but one driver passed the line before the flag waved and everybody was on a flying run. In the back of the draft, Kyle Busch passed Matt Crafton in turn 1 and it looked like he wouldn't be anywhere near taking the pole. The drivers began to pass the line completing their laps and the pole was changing hands. Kyle Busch jumped to the top of the board and even after the problems he had on his lap, he still jumped to the provisional pole spot and took the pole after all the runs were complete. Busch was fast for the entire session and he will be fast tonight.
Kyle Busch has only started in four truck races this season, but he won all four of those events and he has been fast doing it. Plus, he has started first in all but one of those events and he has practically dominated all four of those events. It shouldn't come as a surprise considering Busch has won thirty nine races in the Truck Series and he is the winningest driver in the history of the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Plus, he isn't a slouch in the NASCAR Cup Series with twenty nine wins to his credit. Busch is always fast and tonight will be no different for Busch and the rest of his team. Fresh off his win two weeks ago at Gateway in the Truck Series, Darrell Wallace Jr. came into Kentucky with a fast truck and he took a second place starting spot behind boss, Kyle Busch. The team swept the front row and they have a chance to sweep the top two spots in the event tonight. Jeb Burton took his only win in the Truck Series on a mile and a half track in Texas and he took a third place starting spot for tonight's race at the mile and a half Kentucky Speedway. Ben Kennedy has been fast for the entire season in his rookie year in the series and he took a fourth place starting spot in Kentucky. Johnny Sauter has been consistent for the entire year and he will look to take a win with his fifth place starting spot. The rest of the Truck field follows behind these guys at Kentucky. Kentucky is a very bumpy track and the entire field will have to battle to take a win in the Bluegrass state. Plus, some drivers like Austin Dillon and Brad Keselowski, will have to battle back from rough starting spots. It will be interesting to see how it goes for these guys and the rest of the field. Will Kyle Busch take his fifth win of the season, will Brad Keselowski finally win his first race in a truck, or will another driver take the win in the race? We only have to wait a couple hours to find this out and a whole lot more.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Top 5 Finishers (With Times):
1st: Kyle Busch 30.702 (175.884 mph)
2nd: Darrell Wallace Jr. 30.749 (175.615 mph)
3rd: Jeb Burton 30.823 (175.194 mph)
4th: Ben Kennedy 30.849 (175.046 mph)
5th: Johnny Sauter 30.861 (174.978 mph)
Notables Not in Top 5 (With Times):
6th: German Quiroga 30.876 (174.893 mph)
7th: Timothy Peters 30.890 (174.814 mph)
8th: Ron Hornaday Jr. 31.006 (174.160 mph)
10th: Ryan Blaney 31.220 (172.966 mph)
11th: Matt Crafton 31.415 (171.892 mph)
14th: Brad Keselowski 31.139 (173.416 mph)*
23rd: Austin Dillon No Time#
(*: Keselowski was fast enough to be in the top twelve, but he missed the final round.)
(#: Dillon crashed in the second round before recording a time.)
DNQs: None
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/camping-world-truck-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-qualification.html
http://racing-reference.info/getqualify/2014-08/C
-Image:
https://twitter.com/toyotaracing/status/482280827846279170/photo/1
No comments:
Post a Comment