Martin Truex Jr. rocketed around Charlotte Motor Speedway to the tune of a 28.077-second, 192.328-mph lap on LiftMaster Pole Night, good enough to secure the top spot for Sunday's 57th annual Coca-Cola 600, the toughest race for drivers on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule.
Truex's No. 78 Toyota bested the No. 22 Ford of Joey Logano, Saturday's NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race winner, by a scant .047 seconds. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will start Sunday's race from third position. Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five qualifiers, all of whom will enter Sunday's race seeking their first Coca-Cola 600 victory.
QUOTES:
Coca-Cola 600 Pole Winner Martin Truex Jr. (No. 78 Bass Pro Shops Toyota): "It feels awesome. I'm really proud of this team. We really had to work pretty hard for it today. Just one of those Charlotte deals where the track was consistently changing and you're just chasing the race track. We really never got it close to right until the that last run. Just proud of the effort. It feels good for 600 miles to have that first pit stall. We are going to be on pit road a lot Sunday night. That is certain going to be an advantage to make it work for us. We will get to work on Saturday and hopefully make it better. This sport is tough; things are constantly changing. We learned a lot last weekend that we I feel like helped us today. Hopefully it will continue to help us throughout the weekend."
Coca-Cola 600 Outside Pole Sitter Joey Logano (No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford): "It's just a great start for us. You know, 600 miles, you might think that extra 100 miles doesn't matter that much but we spend a lot of time on pit road in this race. It's those pit stops that mean a lot for us. Overall our Shell Pennzoil Ford is still fast. We came up just a little bit short. It's always kind of tough after you have won the first two rounds. You really want to get it the third time. Unfortunately, we came up just a little short."
Coca-Cola 600 Third-Place Qualifier Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (No. 17 Fastenal Ford): "This is the first time we've put all three rounds together. We've been running better. We've been more consistent. I'm really proud of our team for the adjustments they made during the qualifying sessions. I missed it a little bit but we know where to go work on it to get it better. Now our job is to get it better on Saturday for a long 600 miles on Sunday."
TICKETS:
Great seats can be purchased online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com or by calling the speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267).
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