By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service (Fort Worth, TX) — Just because Austin Dillon is no longer in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, that doesn’t mean the driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet has forgotten how to go fast.
Dillon sped around 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway in 28.081 seconds (192.301 mph) in the final round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session to earn the pole for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the second race in the Chase’s Round of 8.NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 - Qualifying
“I can’t be happier for RCR and everybody back at the shop,” said Dillon, who won his second Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his first at Texas and the third of his career. “A lot of hard work and effort goes on. We missed the Chase by just two feet (eliminated in the Round of 12 at Talladega on a tiebreaker).
PHOTO CREDIT: Sean Gardner/NASCAR via Getty Images
“We want to prove that we can win a race by the end of this year. This is big for us. I thought I messed up the lap, truthfully. I got a lot of good speed off of (Turn) 2, but Turn 3 I turned in and missed my corner, but it worked out. Proud of these guys and everybody back home.”
Chase driver Joey Logano, who ran the fastest lap of the qualifying session (194.266 mph) in the first of three rounds, lost the pole to Dillon by .006 seconds. Logano also started second in the spring race at the 1.5-miler, and last week he fell .008 seconds short of Martin Truex Jr.’s pole-winning effort at Martinsville.
“I got done with that last run, and I honestly didn’t think it would be close to the pole,” Logano said. “I didn’t have a good (Turns) 1 and 2 at all—it got really tight, kind of missed the bottom.
“And then, realizing how close you were to the pole afterwards is the most frustrating part of it, especially after last week. We missed it by thousandths this week and six last week—so we’re getting closer. You just think about how close that is when you’re going about 200 miles an hour.”
Chase driver Kevin Harvick (192.178 mph) qualified third, followed by non-Chasers Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson and Paul Menard. The remaining six Chase drivers will start as follows: Matt Kenseth, seventh; Carl Edwards, ninth; Kurt Busch, 10th; Denny Hamlin, 17th; Jimmie Johnson, 19th; and Kyle Busch 24th.
In a backup car necessitated by a crash in Friday’s opening practice, Kyle Busch ran the second fastest lap in the first round, but a water leak from the No. 18 Toyota—the result of a hose that detached from the engine block—forced the car behind the wall and out of the subsequent rounds.
MORE: Busch bound for backup at Texas
“I think it’s a byproduct of pounding the fence before we even completed a lap in practice,” said Adam Stevens, Busch’s crew chief. “In our hurry to change the motor and all the drivetrain afterwards, apparently we didn’t get the lower radiator hose completely clamped on the water neck out of the block and proceeded to dump all the water out of it on pit road after our first run.
“We’re going to start 24th and get after them from there.”
Busch currently is fourth in the Chase standings, four points ahead of Logano, but he’ll start 22 positions (the equivalent of 22 points) behind the second-place qualifier.
Starting Line Up by Row
Texas Motor Speedway
12th Annual AAA Texas 500
Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Fri, November 04, 2016 @ 07:01 PM Central
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Greg Biffle 04/14/12 03:07:12 160.577
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 3 Austin Dillon Realtree/Bad Boy Chevrolet 28.081 192.301
2 22 Joey Logano (C) AAA Ford 28.087 192.260
Row 2: 3 4 Kevin Harvick (C) Busch Beer Chevrolet 28.099 192.178
4 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 28.106 192.130
Row 3: 5 42 Kyle Larson Kimberly Clark Chevrolet 28.131 191.959
6 27 Paul Menard Schrock/Menards Chevrolet 28.195 191.523
Row 4: 7 20 Matt Kenseth (C) DEWALT FLEXVOLT Toyota 28.216 191.381
8 21 Ryan Blaney # Borg Warner Ford 28.232 191.272
Row 5: 9 19 Carl Edwards (C) Sport Clips Toyota 28.274 190.988
10 41 Kurt Busch (C) Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chevrolet 28.340
190.543
Row 6: 11 24 Chase Elliott # Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet 28.357 190.429
12 78 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota 28.487 189.560
Row 7: 13 13 Casey Mears GEICO Military Chevrolet 28.238 191.232
14 47 AJ Allmendinger Bush’s Chili Beans Chevrolet 28.244 191.191
Row 8: 15 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 28.265 191.049
16 88 Alex Bowman(i) Nationwide Chevrolet 28.288 190.894
Row 9: 17 11 Denny Hamlin (C) FedEx Office Toyota 28.298 190.826
18 31 Ryan Newman Grainger Chevrolet 28.335 190.577
Row 10: 19 48 Jimmie Johnson (C) Lowe’s Chevrolet 28.493 189.520
20 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 28.542 189.195
Row 11: 21 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 28.623 188.659
22 10 Danica Patrick TaxACT Chevrolet 28.742 187.878
Row 12: 23 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 281.286 19.198 24 18 Kyle Busch (C) M&M’s Toyota 27.827 194.056
Row 13: 25 16 Greg Biffle Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford 28.251 191.144
26 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare/SEAL Legacy Foundation Ford 28.308 190.759
Row 14: 27 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Chevrolet 28.312 190.732
28 95 Michael McDowell Thrivent Financial Chevrolet 28.343 190.523
Row 15: 29 44 Brian Scott # Albertsons/Tom Thumb Ford 28.372 190.328
30 34 Chris Buescher # Love’s Travel Stops Ford 28.374 190.315
Row 16: 31 5 Kasey Kahne AARP Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 28.389 190.215 32 7 Regan Smith Nikko RC/Toy State Chevrolet 28.435 189.907
Row 17: 33 83 Matt DiBenedetto ZAK Backs the Blue Toyota 28.436 189.900
34 38 Landon Cassill MDS Transport Ford 28.561 189.069
Row 18: 35 93 Ryan Ellis(i) Science Logic Toyota 28.648 188.495
36 23 David Ragan Dr Pepper Toyota 28.778 187.643
Row 19: 37 46 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 28.903 186.832
38 55 Reed Sorenson Trump – Pence Toyota 29.316 184.200
Row 20: 39 32 Joey Gase(i) Donate Life Texas Ford 29.660 182.063
40 30 Josh Wise Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet 29.877 180.741
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 20 0 Toyota 9 0
Ford 11 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Time Trial Results
Texas Motor Speedway
12th Annual AAA Texas 500
Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Fri, November 04, 2016 @ 07:00 PM Central
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Qualifying Record: Tony Stewart 10/31/14 26.985 200.111
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next
Qualifying Round: 3
1 3 Austin Dillon Realtree/Bad Boy Chevrolet 28.081 192.301 1 1 0.000 0.000
2 22 Joey Logano (C) AAA Ford 28.087 192.260 1 1 0.006 0.006
3 4 Kevin Harvick (C) Busch Beer Chevrolet 28.099 192.178 1 1 0.018 0.012
4 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 28.106 192.130 1 1 0.025 0.007
5 42 Kyle Larson Kimberly Clark Chevrolet 28.131 191.959 1 1 0.050 0.025
6 27 Paul Menard Schrock/Menards Chevrolet 28.195 191.523 1 1 0.114 0.064
7 20 Matt Kenseth (C) DEWALT FLEXVOLT Toyota 28.216 191.381 1 1 0.135 0.021
8 * 21 Ryan Blaney # Borg Warner Ford 28.232 191.272 1 1 0.151 0.016
9 19 Carl Edwards (C) Sport Clips Toyota 28.274 190.988 1 1 0.193 0.042
10 41 Kurt Busch (C) Haas Automation/Monster Energy 28.340 190.543 1 1 0.259 0.066
11 24 Chase Elliott # Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet 28.357 190.429 2 2 0.276 0.017
12 78 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota 28.487 189.560 1 1 0.406 0.130
Qualifying Round: 2
1 4 Kevin Harvick (C) Busch Beer Chevrolet 27.826 194.063 1 1 0.000 0.000
2 19 Carl Edwards (C) Sport Clips Toyota 27.844 193.938 1 1 0.018 0.018
3 3 Austin Dillon Realtree/Bad Boy Chevrolet 27.979 193.002 1 1 0.153 0.135
4 22 Joey Logano (C) AAA Ford 27.982 192.981 1 1 0.156 0.003
5 27 Paul Menard Schrock/Menards Chevrolet 28.020 192.719 1 1 0.194 0.038
6 24 Chase Elliott # Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet 28.093 192.219 1 1 0.267 0.073
7 78 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota 28.163 191.741 1 1 0.337 0.070
8 41 Kurt Busch (C) Haas Automation/Monster Energy 28.173 191.673 1 1 0.347 0.010
9 * 21 Ryan Blaney # Borg Warner Ford 28.202 191.476 1 1 0.376 0.029
10 20 Matt Kenseth (C) DEWALT FLEXVOLT Toyota 28.208 191.435 1 1 0.382 0.006
11 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 28.231 191.279 1 1 0.405 0.023
12 42 Kyle Larson Kimberly Clark Chevrolet 28.237 191.238 1 1 0.411 0.006
13 13 Casey Mears GEICO Military Chevrolet 28.238 191.232 1 1 0.412 0.001
14 47 AJ Allmendinger Bush’s Chili Beans Chevrolet 28.244 191.191 1 1 0.418 0.006
15 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 28.265 191.049 1 3 0.439 0.021
16 88 Alex Bowman(i) Nationwide Chevrolet 28.288 190.894 1 1 0.462 0.023
17 11 Denny Hamlin (C) FedEx Office Toyota 28.298 190.826 3 3 0.472 0.010
18 31 Ryan Newman Grainger Chevrolet 28.335 190.577 1 3 0.509 0.037
19 48 Jimmie Johnson (C) Lowe’s Chevrolet 28.493 189.520 1 1 0.667 0.158
20 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 28.542 189.195 1 1 0.716 0.049
21 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 28.623 188.659 1 1 0.797 0.081
22 10 Danica Patrick TaxACT Chevrolet 28.742 187.878 1 3 0.916 0.119
23 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 281.286 19.198 1 1 253.460 252.544
24 18 Kyle Busch (C) M&M’s Toyota 0.000 0.000 0 0 —– —–
Qualifying Round: 1
1 22 Joey Logano (C) AAA Ford 27.797 194.266 1 1 0.000 0.000
2 18 Kyle Busch (C) M&M’s Toyota 27.827 194.056 1 1 0.030 0.030
3 4 Kevin Harvick (C) Busch Beer Chevrolet 27.855 193.861 1 1 0.058 0.028
4 24 Chase Elliott # Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet 27.863 193.805 1 1 0.066 0.008
5 78 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota 27.941 193.264 1 1 0.144 0.078
6 42 Kyle Larson Kimberly Clark Chevrolet 27.952 193.188 1 1 0.155 0.011
7 11 Denny Hamlin (C) FedEx Office Toyota 27.957 193.154 1 1 0.160 0.005
8 3 Austin Dillon Realtree/Bad Boy Chevrolet 27.960 193.133 1 1 0.163 0.003
9 19 Carl Edwards (C) Sport Clips Toyota 27.977 193.016 1 1 0.180 0.017
10 41 Kurt Busch (C) Haas Automation/Monster Energy 27.981 192.988 1 1 0.184 0.004
11 27 Paul Menard Schrock/Menards Chevrolet 28.007 192.809 1 1 0.210 0.026
12 31 Ryan Newman Grainger Chevrolet 28.012 192.775 1 1 0.215 0.005
13 * 21 Ryan Blaney # Borg Warner Ford 28.027 192.671 1 1 0.230 0.015
14 47 AJ Allmendinger Bush’s Chili Beans Chevrolet 28.055 192.479 1 1 0.258 0.028
15 20 Matt Kenseth (C) DEWALT FLEXVOLT Toyota 28.062 192.431 1 1 0.265 0.007
16 48 Jimmie Johnson (C) Lowe’s Chevrolet 28.071 192.369 1 1 0.274 0.009
17 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrole