GEICO 500 Qualifying
Date: April 30, 2016
Event: Qualifying for the GEICO 500 (Round 10 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (49.704 seconds at 192.661 mph)
SHR Lineup:
Ty Dillon, substitute driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet SS, led the four-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent Saturday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway by setting the 14th-fastest lap in the first round of knockout qualifying for Sunday’s GEICO 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
While Dillon turned a lap of 50.003 seconds at 191.509 mph on the 2.66-mile oval, the No. 14 car will drop to the rear of the field due to a driver change. Tony Stewart is scheduled to start the race but will hand driving duties over to Dillon during the first caution of the race.
Qualifying consisted of two rounds of single-car qualifying, with drivers getting one timed green-flag lap per round. The fastest 12 drivers from the first round advanced to the final round of qualifying where they battled for the pole. Positions 1-12 were set by speeds in the final round, while the remaining 40-car field was set by speeds posted by those who did not advance past the first round.
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy Chevrolet SS for SHR, qualified 18th with a time of 50.126 seconds at 191.039 mph.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Fishing Chevrolet SS, qualified 29th with a time of 50.453 seconds at 189.800 mph.
Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Aspen Dental Chevrolet SS for SHR, qualified 37th with a time of 50.679 seconds at 188.954 mph.
Chase Elliott led the final round of knockout qualifying by taking the pole with a lap of 49.704 seconds at 192.661 mph. It was his second career Sprint Cup pole, his second of the season and his first at Talladega.
Austin Dillon will start on the outside of row one after clocking in at 49.765 seconds at 192.424 mph.
The 10 other drivers who made it to the final round of qualifying were Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Paul Menard, Kasey Kahne and Martin Truex Jr. All are listed in the order they’ll start Sunday’s race.
The GEICO 500 gets underway at 1 p.m. EDT Sunday with live coverage provided by FOX.
-SHR-