Busch brothers 1-2 in qualifying
Kyle Busch won the pole Friday for the Shelby 427 NASCAR Sprint Cup race, and his older brother, Kurt Busch, was second fastest in qualifying.
They became only the third brothers to do that in NASCAR’s 61-year history.
Unfortunately for the Busches, starting side by side won’t happen.
A blown engine in Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota during practice earlier in the day forced his Joe Gibbs Racing team to install a new one.
That means the Durango High School graduates will get to take a few warm-up laps at the front of the pack, but before the green flag waves to start Sunday’s 1:30 p.m. race, the younger Busch will have to drop to the rear of the 43-car field per NASCAR rules.
"Unfortunately for myself, I won’t be in the cool photo next to my brother at the drop of the green flag," said Kyle Busch, who won his fourth Cup pole and second at Las Vegas.
His car was one of five Toyotas that had to replace motors after practice.
"I don’t have any idea," Busch said of what caused the problems.
The new engine helped him post a best lap at an average speed of 185.995 mph. He was one of 12 drivers to run faster than the 1.5-mile tri-oval’s previous qualifying record set two years ago by Kasey Kahne.
The last time brothers started first and second was in 2000 when Rusty and Kenny Wallace accomplished the feat. Bobby and Terry Labonte did it in the 1998 Daytona 500.
It’s the second consecutive week an engine change sent the pole winner to the rear before the beginning of a race. Brian Vickers had to watch 42 cars pull past him before Sunday’s race started in Fontana, Calif.
Among the eight drivers who failed to qualify for the race among 51 entrants are 2002 Las Vegas winner Sterling Marlin and Jeremy Mayfield, who was that year’s runner-up.
With Kyle Busch being transplanted to the rear of the field, Jimmie Johnson will inherit his starting spot because the entire row of those qualifying in odd-numbered positions will move up one spot.
It might not be an ideal position for Johnson at Las Vegas, where a pole winner never has won.
"That’s an amazing statistic," said Johnson, the three-time reigning series champion. "(But) that doesn’t really worry me … I did qualify third."
Johnson is the only driver with three Las Vegas victories, a streak running from 2005 to 2007.
Kyle Busch, who finished third in Fontana, will keep the $5,600 bonus for winning the pole, receive the City of Las Vegas Mayor’s Trophy and, most important, have his choice for location of his team’s pit stall.
After the brothers made their qualifying runs, 40 cars were left to make theirs.
"I felt like Kyle (did) — that plenty of other guys would have knocked us off," Kurt Busch said.
Another driver starting in an unexpectedly poor position is Matt Kenseth, who will try to become the first Cup driver to win a season’s first three races.
Kenseth, a two-time winner of the Las Vegas race, will start 42nd. He had the worst starting spot for a winner at the track in a Cup race, after starting 25th in 2004.
Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247. For more on racing, go to lvrj.com/motorsports.
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