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TALLADEGA, Alaska. – Kurt Busch led a sweep of Stewart-Haas Racing to put the company's four cars in front of the Talladega Superspeedway for a playoff runoff.
Kurt Busch will take pole with teammate Clint Bowyer. Take a look at the field for Sunday's race.
Timothy Peters dismissed leader Noah Gragson on the last lap at Talladega Superspeedway, then blocked traffic on the last kilometer to win the Truck Series race on Saturday.
The dynamic duo, which has won seven titles together, will be part of separate teams in 2019. Our ESPN experts establish a handicap, whether the crew commander or the driver raises the trophy before the other.
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Busch took a lap at 195.804 mph to qualify for first place in Sunday's race. He beat fellow teammate Clint Bowyer, who qualified second, ahead of Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola, while the Ford power built by Doug Yates' engine shop proved to be superior in qualifying.
"The four Stewart-Haas Racing Fords at the front, I'm just glad to have the fastest," said Busch, who won his first career pole at Daytona or Talladega, both tracks. the biggest and fastest NASCAR.
The four SHR drivers are still in the 12-driver squad, which will be cut by four after next weekend's race in Kansas. Almirola and Bowyer are tied for ninth on the playoff grid, barely retaining the transfer of positions.
"I have to beat, differentiate and separate myself from my team-mate Aric – we are both 10 points," said Bowyer. "I have to capitalize on that one way or another and fill that gap here."
Hendrick Motorsports had the next fastest fleet, with Chase Elliott's Chevrolets, Jimmie Johnson, Alex Bowman and William Byron qualifying for slot machines 5-8.
"The four guys in the top 12 are a great performance for us," said Byron. "The qualifications do not totally reflect the way things are going to move Sunday and the way you're going to run, but that should be ok, with four of us starting out, we have the opportunity to stay ahead of some of the possible situations."
Toyota group followed as Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin qualified ninth and tenth, followed by defending champion Martin Truex Jr.
"We certainly have better qualified than expected," said Kyle Busch. "The guys who qualify well are the ones you expect."
The other four drivers in the playoffs were Brad Keselowski (18th), Ryan Blaney (19th), Joey Logano (20th) and Kyle Larson (34th).
Other articles from Talladega:
QUICK CARS: Talladega had an "improved weekend" in which the Cup cars were on the track two days instead of three, with only one practice session before Sunday's race. The session was also fast, as Harvick drove 23 more drivers at speeds above 200 mph. Harvick dominated the practice chart at 204.227 mph.
BUDGET RACING: Richard Petty Motorsports had only one car to report a take-out speed for the Talladega Superspeedway. Bubba Wallace has therefore behaved better and better all weekend. Wallace had to complete a training session and qualifying on Saturday without harming his Chevrolet because RPM did not bring a rescue car.
Wallace was second at Daytona 500, 16th at Talladega in the spring and 14th at Daytona in July. The Daytona 500 car was auctioned in May for just over $ 80,000.
The number of RPM cars is down because of the fight for sponsorship of Wallace, the only black driver to race full time at NASCAR's national level;
"Money is the root of all the trouble and success for us," Wallace said.
FINAL DISSEMINATION: Mike Wells, an 21-time Emmy Award winner, will lead his last NASCAR race Sunday after 38 years.
Wells' career began in 1981 at Rockingham Speedway. He has become a key player in NASCAR and sports broadcasting, working for ESPN, Turner Sports and others, in addition to NBC. Wells led the last race of Richard Petty, the last victory of Dale Earnhardt Sr. The four cup series championship of Jeff Gordon and the seventh series series cup title of Jimmie Johnson.
After Sunday's race, Wells will switch to IndyCar mode and prepare for the first NBC coverage of the 500 miles of Indianapolis next season. The network takes over the IndyCar package next season and Wells is in charge of "The Biggest Race Show".
"Although it's bittersweet for this to be Mike's last NASCAR race for us, we can not think of a better person to lead the first edition of the NBC Indy 500 in 2019," said Sam Flood, executive producer and President of NBC.
The information provided by the Associated Press has been used in this report.
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