Joe Gibbs Racing Qualifying Report

The Joe Gibbs Racing Qualifying Report Presented by Interstate Batteries
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
Date: May 16, 2008

Event: NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (non-points event)

Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

Pole Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (121.956 seconds at 132.835 mph)
JGR Lineup: Kyle Busch (1st, 121.956 seconds at 132.835 mph)

Tony Stewart (12th, 124.816 seconds at 129.791 mph)

Denny Hamlin (20th, 157.594 seconds at 102.796 mph)

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, led the three-car Joe Gibbs Racing contingent in time trials at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway by qualifying on the pole for Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. Busch’s time of 121.956 seconds at 132.835 mph – which included three timed laps around the 1.5-mile oval with a four-tire pit stop – placed him first among the 21 drivers already eligible for the All-Star race.

"Man, I can’t thank these guys enough at Joe Gibbs Racing. Steve Addington (crew chief) and all these guys that work on this car do such an awesome job for me,” said Busch, who will make his third career appearance in the All-Star Race on Saturday. “They gave me a great race car that ran three phenomenal laps and gave me great pit stops. They were solid on pit road and that’s all you need in this kind of deal. Proud of the effort.”

Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates – Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota and Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota – qualified 12th and 20th, respectively. Stewart timed in at 124.816 seconds at 129.791 mph while Hamlin stopped the clocks in 157.594 seconds at 102.796 mph.

“Our run really didn’t mean anything because we had to change a motor so we have to go to the back anyway,” said Stewart, who has participated in each All-Star Race since joining the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as a rookie in 1999. “We basically did it just to go through the motions. I got 12 laps of practice, so not real sure what to expect for tomorrow. We broke a part in the motor that kept us from getting it changed before practice was over, so we never got to go back out and really didn’t get anything done today.”

“Our car was just a little bit free on our run,” said Hamlin, who in qualifying for his second career start in the All-Star race, spun while coming to pit road. “You run a lot faster under these conditions, so you’re carrying more speed. You’re not necessarily going to stop faster, so we probably should have moved our point back a little bit.”

Jeff Gordon will start next to Busch on the outside of row one, as he qualified second (122.494 seconds at 132.251 mph). Kyle’s older brother – Kurt Bush – qualified third (123.157 seconds at 131.539 mph), while Martin Truex Jr., (123.328 seconds at 131.357 mph) and Greg Biffle (123.406 seconds at 131.274 mph) rounded-out the rest of the top-five.

As far as manufacturers went in All-Star Race qualifying, Toyota took the top spot thanks to Busch’s pole-winning mark. Chevrolet was next best at the hands of Gordon. Kurt Busch carried the flag for Dodge, while the top Ford came via Biffle.

The All-Star Race gets underway on Saturday, May 17 at 9 p.m. EDT after the undercard Sprint Showdown is completed. SPEED will carry live, high-definition coverage of both events beginning at 7 p.m.