Kurt Busch on Inaugural Charlotte ROVAL Pole

Kurt Busch in qualifying

Kurt Busch Speeds to First ROVAL Pole
(CONCORD, NC – SEP 28, 2018 – RIS) Kurt Busch sped his No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford to the pole position in the inaugural Bank of America ROVAL 400. Culminating a long development period to produce the final configuration of the 2.28 mile, 17 turn road course, the weekend sees NASCAR’s newest track at one of the oldest on the tour. With 35 feet of elevation change, plus the elevation of the banking, the track is the newest addition to the NASCAR schedule and the first road race in the Playoffs.

Busch beat out AJ Allmendinger, outgoing driver of the No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet by only 0.041 second with Alex Bowman a thin .008 second farther back in third place. Allmendinger is in his last races with JTG-Daugherty, as the team announced today that Ryan Preece, New England Modified driver, will move into the No. 47 Chevy next year, leaving Allmendinger in search of a ride.

In another driver announcement, Richard Childress and Daniel Hemric announced that Hemric will be the driver of the No. 31 car for next year’s races, replacing Ryan Newman, who is moving into the No. 6 Ford, replacing Trevor Bayne.

“This is really special to win any inaugural race or pole,” Said Busch after qualifying. “And to have this little trophy next to me means a lot. When you go into a new event, you have to execute with fundamentals and an open mind. And the way our No. 41 team approached this weekend was to cover all of the fundamentals and have our bases covered.

“Behind the scenes, I spent over two days over at Ford on the simulator making sure my shift points were proper and braking zones. When you have such good technology available, it’s a matter of utilizing it. When we made a qualifying run in practice we were on the heavy loose side. We made some adjustments and that put us right on the bubble in the first round. I was hoping it would play out and our set up would be optimum for Round Two. Those are fundamental things that you do.”

A.J. Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet commented: "It's a crazy race track, for sure. It's like my Champ Car days. It's a street course in the infield there. The walls are on both sides and if you make a small mistake, you're going to pay the price for it. To me, it makes for a lot of fun because you've got to be on point. You've got to be aggressive but you can't be over-aggressive. I could nit-pick both my laps and say there's a lot more out there, but you could easily try to get that and find yourself in the wall. … My strategy (for Sunday) is to go out there and try to win. I've got no job, it doesn’t matter. I'm going there trying to win."

Saturday’s action includes qualifying for the Xfinity Series race and the race itself, starting at 3:00 with Indy car and road racer Katherine Legge just one of the special entries for the race. Sunday’s ROVAL is slated to start at 2:00 in the afternoon.

Time Trial Results: The Inaugural Bank of America ROVAL 400 Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course

New Track Qualifying Record: Kurt Busch (P); 09/28/18; 1:16.805, 106.868 mph

Qualifying Round 1
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed, Lap #, # Laps, -Fastest, -Next
1) AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 76.956 sec, 106.658 mph, 1, 1, 0.000, 0.000
2) Daniel Hemric(i), No. 8* Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet, 77.126, 106.423, 1, 1, 0.170, 0.170
3) Alex Bowman (P), No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, 77.130, 106.418, 1, 1, 0.174, 0.004
4) Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 SunEnergy1 Chevrolet, 77.133, 106.414, 1, 1, 0.177, 0.003
5) Chris Buescher, No. 37 Maple Cheerios Chevrolet, 77.138, 106.407, 1, 1, 0.182, 0.005
6) Jimmie Johnson (P), No. 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 77.140, 106.404, 1, 1, 0.184, 0.002
7) Kyle Larson (P), No. 42 Clover/First Data Chevrolet, 77.184, 106.343, 1, 1, 0.228, 0.044
8) Clint Bowyer (P), No. 14 Mobil 1/Advance Auto Parts Ford, 77.227, 106.284, 1, 1, 0.271, 0.043
9) Jamie McMurray, No. 1 DC Solar Chevrolet, 77.257, 106.243, 1, 1, 0.301, 0.030
10) Kurt Busch (P), No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 77.292, 106.195, 1, 1, 0.336, 0.035
11) Erik Jones (P), No. 20 Reser's Toyota, 77.308, 106.173, 2, 2, 0.352, 0.016
12) Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford, 77.350, 106.115, 1, 3, 0.394, 0.042
13) Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 78 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, 77.390, 106.060, 3, 3, 0.434, 0.040
14) Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 77.575, 105.807, 1, 3, 0.619, 0.185
15) Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 77.589, 105.788, 1, 3, 0.633, 0.014
16) Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Rehydrate Ford, 77.618, 105.749, 3, 3, 0.662, 0.029
17) Daniel Suarez, No. 19 Lenox Toyota, 77.663, 105.687, 1, 3, 0.707, 0.045
18) Michael McDowell, No. 34 K-LOVE Radio Ford, 77.668, 105.681, 1, 3, 0.712, 0.005
19) Kevin Harvick (P), No. 4 JimmyJohn'sNew9GrainWheatSub Ford, 77.947, 105.302, 3, 3, 0.991, 0.279
20) Aric Almirola (P), No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 78.031, 105.189, 1, 3, 1.075, 0.084
21) William Byron #, No. 24 Unifirst Chevrolet, 78.082, 105.120, 4, 4, 1.126, 0.051
22) Paul Menard, No. 21 Motorcraft/QuickLaneTire&Auto Ford, 78.101, 105.095, 1, 3, 1.145, 0.019
23) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 SunnyD Ford, 78.258, 104.884, 1, 3, 1.302, 0.157
24) Austin Dillon (P), No. 3 Dow Chevrolet, 78.389, 104.709, 4, 4, 1.433, 0.131
25) Brad Keselowski (P), No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford, 78.435, 104.647, 1, 1, 1.479, 0.046
26) Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 78.455, 104.620, 3, 3, 1.499, 0.020
27) Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, 78.561, 104.479, 3, 3, 1.605, 0.106
28) Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Superior Logistics Services Inc. Ford, 78.657, 104.352, 3, 3, 1.701, 0.096
29) Ryan Newman, No. 31 Grainger/American Red Cross Chevrolet, 78.665, 104.341, 1, 3, 1.709, 0.008
30) David Ragan, No. 38 MDS Transport Ford, 78.898, 104.033, 1, 2, 1.942, 0.233
31) Justin Marks(i), No. 15 GoPro Motorplex/Pickers Vodka Chevrolet, 78.972, 103.936, 3, 3, 2.016, 0.074
32) Regan Smith, No. 95 Procore Chevrolet, 79.267, 103.549, 3, 3, 2.311, 0.295
33) Cole Whitt, No. 72 Rinnai Chevrolet, 79.489, 103.260, 1, 3, 2.533, 0.222
34) Bubba Wallace #, No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet, 79.910, 102.716, 2, 2, 2.954, 0.421
35) Ross Chastain(i), No. 7* SOKAL Media Group Chevrolet, 79.940, 102.677, 1, 1, 2.984, 0.030
36) JJ Yeley(i), No. 23 Adirondack Tree Surgeons Toyota, 80.444, 102.034, 1, 1, 3.488, 0.504
37) Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 96* iK9/Xtreme Concepts Toyota, 80.510, 101.950, 1, 4, 3.554, 0.066
38) Landon Cassill(i), No. 00 Dairi O Chevrolet, 81.196, 101.089, 4, 4, 4.240, 0.686
39) Stanton Barrett, No. 51 Jacob Companies Ford, 81.871, 100.255, 1, 2, 4.915, 0.675
40) Timmy Hill(i), No. 66* Ternio Toyota, 82.022, 100.071, 2, 2, 5.066, 0.151

Qualifying Round 2
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed, Lap #, # Laps, -Fastest, -Next
1) Kurt Busch (P), 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 76.805 sec, 106.868 mph, 1, 1, 0.000, 0.000
2) AJ Allmendinger, 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 76.846, 106.811, 1, 1, 0.041, 0.041
3) Alex Bowman (P), 88 Axalta Chevrolet, 76.854, 106.800, 1, 1, 0.049, 0.008
4) Chase Elliott (P), 9 SunEnergy1 Chevrolet, 77.001, 106.596, 1, 1, 0.196, 0.147
5) Kyle Larson (P), 42 Clover/First Data Chevrolet, 77.017, 106.574, 1, 1, 0.212, 0.016
6) Jimmie Johnson (P), 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 77.098, 106.462, 1, 1, 0.293, 0.081
7) Clint Bowyer (P), 14 Mobil 1/Advance Auto Parts Ford, 77.192, 106.332, 1, 1, 0.387, 0.094
8) Jamie McMurray, 1 DC Solar Chevrolet, 77.358, 106.104, 1, 1, 0.553, 0.166
9) Ryan Blaney (P), 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford, 77.493, 105.919, 1, 1, 0.688, 0.135
10) Chris Buescher, 37 Maple Cheerios Chevrolet, 77.760, 105.556, 1, 1, 0.955, 0.267
11) Daniel Hemric(i), 8* Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet, 77.796, 105.507, 1, 1, 0.991, 0.036
12) Erik Jones (P), 20 Reser's Toyota, 77.868, 105.409, 1, 1, 1.063, 0.072

Starting Line Up: The Inaugural Bank of America ROVAL 400 - Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed
1) Kurt Busch (P), No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 76.805 sec, 106.868 mph
2) AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 76.846, 106.811
3) Alex Bowman (P), No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, 76.854, 106.800
4) Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 SunEnergy1 Chevrolet, 77.001, 106.596
5) Kyle Larson (P), No. 42 Clover/First Data Chevrolet, 77.017, 106.574
6) Jimmie Johnson (P), No. 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 77.098, 106.462
7) Clint Bowyer (P), No. 14 Mobil 1/Advance Auto Parts Ford, 77.192, 106.332
8) Jamie McMurray, No. 1 DC Solar Chevrolet, 77.358, 106.104
9) Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford, 77.493, 105.919
10) Chris Buescher, No. 37 Maple Cheerios Chevrolet, 77.760, 105.556
11) Daniel Hemric(i), No. 8* Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet, 77.796, 105.507
12) Erik Jones (P), No. 20 Reser's Toyota, 77.868, 105.409
13) Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 78 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, 77.390, 106.060
14) Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 77.575, 105.807
15) Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 77.589, 105.788
16) Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Rehydrate Ford, 77.618, 105.749
17) Daniel Suarez, No. 19 Lenox Toyota, 77.663, 105.687
18) Michael McDowell, No. 34 K-LOVE Radio Ford, 77.668, 105.681
19) Kevin Harvick (P), No. 4 Jimmy John's New 9-Grain Wheat Sub Ford, 77.947, 105.302
20) Aric Almirola (P), No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 78.031, 105.189
21) William Byron #, No. 24 Unifirst Chevrolet, 78.082, 105.120
22) Paul Menard, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 78.101, 105.095
23) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 SunnyD Ford, 78.258, 104.884
24) Austin Dillon (P), No. 3 Dow Chevrolet, 78.389, 104.709
25) Brad Keselowski (P), No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford, 78.435, 104.647
26) Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 78.455, 104.620
27) Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, 78.561, 104.479
28) Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Superior Logistics Services Inc. Ford, 78.657, 104.352
29) Ryan Newman, No. 31 Grainger/American Red Cross Chevrolet, 78.665, 104.341
30) David Ragan, No. 38 MDS Transport Ford, 78.898, 104.033
31) Justin Marks(i), No. 15 GoPro Motorplex/Pickers Vodka Chevrolet, 78.972, 103.936
32) Regan Smith, No. 95 Procore Chevrolet, 79.267, 103.549
33) Cole Whitt, No. 72 Rinnai Chevrolet, 79.489, 103.260
34) Bubba Wallace #, No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet, 79.910, 102.716
35) Ross Chastain(i), No. 7* SOKAL Media Group Chevrolet, 79.940, 102.677
36) JJ Yeley(i), No. 23 Adirondack Tree Surgeons Toyota, 80.444, 102.034
37) Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 96* iK9/Xtreme Concepts Toyota, 80.510, 101.950
38) Landon Cassill(i), No. 00 Dairi O Chevrolet, 81.196, 101.089
39) Stanton Barrett, No. 51 Jacob Companies Ford, 81.871, 100.255
40) Timmy Hill(i), No. 66* Ternio Toyota, 82.022, 100.071
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) non-charter team, (P) Playoffs qualified

John Davison

Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.

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Volume 2018, Issue 9, Posted 10:50 PM, 09.28.2018