Carl Edwards to start first in Brickyard 400
INDIANAPOLIS – Carl Edwards has the pole for the second-straight race.
The driver of the No. 19 started first at New Hampshire last week and will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s Brickyard 400. he posted the fastest lap of the second round of Saturday’s qualifying session with a speed of 183.464 MPH.
Edwards will start alongside Joey Logano, who posted a lap of 183.139 MPH. Logano also started on the front row at New Hampshire.
David Ragan will start third, Tony Stewart will start fourth and Kyle Larson will start fifth.
Ragan was also third at New Hampshire. According to NASCAR, the last time the same drivers started 1-2-3 in consecutive weeks was in 2009. Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson did it at New Hampshire and Daytona.
But those sessions were set by points because of rain. The las time the same drivers went 1-2-3 in back-to-back weeks was in 1972. The drivers were David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Buddy Baker.
Stewart was the fastest driver in the first round of qualifying and went out last in the second session. The trackers showed him faster than Edwards through turns 1 and 2 but the advantage disappeared on the backstretch.
Stewart said his first run gave him some confidence. Will it translate to a successful Sunday? He’s mired in 28th in the points standings and has one top 10 in 2015 and has shown qualifying speed at other times this season. He’s been in the final round of qualifying seven of the first 19 races of 2015. His highest finish in those races is 12th.
Ryan Newman’s speed was disallowed and he’ll start at the back of the field via a provisional. The time was disqualified because NASCAR said he didn’t have a right-side window net. Josh Wise, Jeb Burton and Reed Sorenson didn’t qualify for the race.
– – – – – – –
Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
