Kyle Busch Destroys the Track Record While Taking the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pole at New Hampshire

        With a time of 27.574 seconds (138.130 mph), Kyle Busch was able to destroy the track record at New Hampshire and take his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole of 2014. Like usual in the new NASCAR qualifying system, the final round was filled with a waiting game near the end. Only four drivers out of the twelve had went out before the final three and a half minutes, but the action began to pick up. Jimmie Johnson beat the track record and jumped ahead of Tony Stewart, but Busch had not completed a lap yet. He did a minute later and he blistered Johnson's track record time by near a tenth and he took the provisional pole. Busch outlasted the rest of the drivers who attempted runs and he was able to take the pole in style over the field. It was Busch's fifteenth career pole in the series and only his second at New Hampshire. This pole will put Busch in a good position to start tomorrow's race and he will certainly be a threat to the field. Jimmie Johnson came within a tenth of having the pole and a track record to his name, but he was forced to settle with a second place starting spot at New Hampshire. Denny Hamlin ran fast like his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate in Busch and he took a third place starting spot. Tony Stewart proved the summer is his time to heat up with a fourth place starting spot at New Hampshire. Jamie McMurray has been fast the entire weekend and he took a fifth place starting spot for his Chip Ganassi Racing team. The rest of the field followed behind with a few surprises deep in the field. Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have to battle from starting spots outside the top twenty five while Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, the two Team Penske drivers, just have to battle from outside the top five. The first knockout qualifying session at New Hampshire for the Cup Series was a rather calm session, but one that will decide the winner come tomorrow afternoon.

        Brian Vickers was the first driver on track to start the thirty minute first round. Vickers, who won last summer's race at New Hampshire, ran a decent lap to start the round. Early on, though, his Toyota teammate, Denny Hamlin, jumped to the top of the board. Just a few seconds later, Brad Keselowski jumped to the top of the board. Hamlin, who was running his second lap when Keselowski took the top spot, jumped back to the top of the board after completing his second lap. The rest of the field began to head on track in the next few minutes, but Hamlin still stood on top after outlasting these runs. With about ten minutes left, though, the battle for the twelfth and final transfer spot would be the story of the round. Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Brian Vickers, Kurt Busch, and others looked to move on to the second and final round. Gordon and Logano moved into the next round in the next few minutes, but the battle was still raging as time closed within a minute left on the clock. A few drivers looked to steal the final spot from Kasey Kahne, but they fell short as the red and black flag waved. Kahne remained the driver in the final transfer spot while Denny Hamlin remained the fastest driver in the session. Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, and Tony Stewart moved on while Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle, Kyle Larson, Ryan Newman, and others missed the final round. After a long thirty minutes, the field would have ten minutes to decide a pole winner.

         Joey Logano was the first driver on track for the ten minute second and final round. He ran a decent lap to start the round as a few other drivers went on track. Early on, Tony Stewart jumped to the top of the board. After two minutes, only four drivers had went on track and it looked like that would be the case for a few minutes. Drivers were starting to line up on pit road, hoping for a cloud over the speedway to run a fast lap. With about five minutes left, the drivers were still lined up and waiting for the cloud. With three and a half minutes remaining, the charge onto the track began. Drivers began to file onto the speedway as Jimmie Johnson took the provisional pole with a track record speed and with only three minutes left. Just a minute later, Kyle Busch went out and blistered Johnson's time to lay down a track record speed of his own. Busch would look to hold onto the pole with two minutes remaining. The field tried to beat him, but Busch remained the fastest man in New Hampshire and he took the pole with a track record speed. Busch was fast in qualifying, but he will have to run fast during the race as well. 

        Kyle Busch has looked a little off in the last six weeks since a top ten at Charlotte. He has only one top five in those six races and he has finished outside the top forty twice in only six races. Plus, he has dropped from as high as third in points all the way down to eleventh after the race at Sonoma three weeks ago. This weekend at New Hampshire seems a little different for Busch. He already has a pole for the Cup Series in his pocket and he finished a solid second in the Nationwide Series race earlier this afternoon. If he can put everything together on Sunday, he could be looking at his second win of the season in the series, but listen to this. In eighteen races this year, only three of them have been won from the pole. If Busch is to win from the pole, he will have to battle hard with the field to do so. Jimmie Johnson will look to keep Busch out of victory lane as Johnson looks for his fourth win of the season with a second place starting spot. Denny Hamlin has a lone win at Talladega this year and a third place starting spot at New Hampshire could give him a second one. Tony Stewart desperately needs a win and a fourth place starting spot on The Magic Mile could put him closer to that win. Jamie McMurray surprised everybody with an All-Star win this year, but he needs a points paying win for a Chase spot and a fifth place spot on the grid will help him with that. As the season has passed halfway, the key point now has become winning races. Drivers are searching for wins and they will start to look for them every single week. Tomorrow's race at New Hampshire will be no different and we could see a winless driver win this year. In fact, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Brian Vickers, and others need wins this year and they have all won a race at New Hampshire before. They should be threats tomorrow for the win in the event. It should be a great race and there are many things that could happen. Will Brian Vickers repeat after his surprise win at New Hampshire last year, will Matt Kenseth win at the track where he won for the first time last year in the Chase, or will another driver stand on top in victory lane? We only have to wait until tomorrow to find this out and a whole lot more. 
(More Stats Down Below!)





Top 5 Qualifiers (With Times):
1st: Kyle Busch      27.574 (138.130 mph)
2nd: Jimmie Johnson     27.642 (137.790 mph)
3rd: Denny Hamlin     27.785 (137.081 mph)
4th: Tony Stewart      27.786 (137.076 mph)
5th: Jamie McMurray      27.798 (137.017 mph)

Notables Not in Top 5 (With Times):
6th: Joey Logano     27.839 (136.815 mph)
7th: Brad Keselowski      27.841 (136.805 mph)
10th: Kasey Kahne      27.970 (136.174 mph)
11th: Jeff Gordon      27.994 (136.058 mph)
12th: Kevin Harvick     28.024 (135.912 mph)
15th: Matt Kenseth      27.953 (136.257 mph)*
18th: Kurt Busch      27.968 (136.184 mph)*
28th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.     28.168 (135.217 mph)
(*: Kenseth and Harvick were fast enough to be in the top twelve, but they missed the second and final round.)

DNQs: None





Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-qualification.html
http://racing-reference.info/getqualify/2014-19/W
-Image:
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/e175f4c176834cd1b2ea351adcf0366e174f2a9a/c=421-0-4861-3337&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2014/07/11/1405116667000-7-11-14-busch-nh-pole.jpg