Kurt Busch won the inaugural Charlotte Motor Speedway road course Busch Pole Award after he maneuvered the 17-turn, 2.28-mile course at 106.868 mph in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.
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It is Busch’s fourth pole this season and the 26th of his career.
Road-course specialist AJ Allmendinger will start alongside Busch on the front row for Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) after urging the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet to record a lap at 106.811 mph.
NASCAR Playoff drivers Alex Bowman (106.800 mph), Chase Elliott (106.596 mph) and Kyle Larson (106.574 mph) rounded out the top five.
The road course proved difficult for several drivers, including half the playoff field that did not advance to the second round of the two-round knockout qualifying session.
Jimmie Johnson (starting sixth), Clint Bowyer (seventh) and Ryan Blaney (ninth) were among the lucky ones to rank among the top 12 in the first round.
Denny Hamlin, who entered the weekend ranked last among 16 playoff drivers, encountered trouble early in the first round on his initial qualifying lap as he clipped the barrier wall on the backstretch chicane that sent him careening into the outside wall and causing damage to the rear of his car.
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Moments later, Erik Jones tagged that same wall — the one that also caused damage to Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet in practice earlier in the day — but continued on, despite some damage. He still managed the 11th-fastest lap in the first round.
Brad Keselowski also damaged the side skirt on his No. 2 Team Penske Ford when he ran over a “turtle” bumper at an awkward angle in his initial qualifying lap. Keselowski qualified 25th after the damage to his No. 2 Team Penske Ford.
Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing crew was able to repair his Toyota for him to make another qualifying lap, but his speed was just 27th fastest — worst among playoff drivers. He will go to a backup car for Sunday’s race and start from the rear.
Other playoff drivers who did not advance past the first round included: Martin Truex Jr. (13th), Kyle Busch (14th), Joey Logano (15th), Kevin Harvick (19th), Aric Almirola (20th) and Austin Dillon (24th).
This story will be updated.
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