FORT WORTH, Texas — Tony Stewart will start his 400th Sprint Cup race from the pole.
Stewart won qualifying in NASCAR’s top series for the first time in five years Friday, turning a lap of 191.327 mph at Texas Motor Speedway. It’s been 155 races since Stewart last won the pole, at Martinsville in October 2005.
“I’m surprised,” Stewart said. “I’m really not much of a qualifier.”
It’s the third time Stewart has won the pole in Texas. He was the top qualifier twice in the IndyCar Series in the 1990s.
Former IRL star Sam Hornish Jr., still winless in his third full Sprint Cup season, almost knocked Stewart off the pole. He settled for second with a lap of 191.232.
Greg Biffle, who was denied a seventh consecutive top-10 finish to start the season last week in Phoenix, qualified third for Sunday’s Samsung Mobile 500.
Four-time defending Sprint Cup champion and current points leader Jimmie Johnson was fourth.
The pole drought didn’t keep Stewart from winning races. Thirteen of his 37 victories have come since his last pole, the same year he won his second Sprint Cup series championship.
IRL looking for excitement
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Hinting at possible “major” changes in the open-wheel circuit, new Indy Racing League CEO Randy Bernard said an announcement will be made in the next two weeks to create excitement outside of the IRL’s premier event.
“You have the Indianapolis 500, then you have a bunch of vanilla events,” Bernard said at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. “Not to take away from this great event here, but it’s not a national event, which we need to have two or three majors that stand apart and make them big, big events. I think what we’re working on might help with that.”
The IRL could take two or three events outside of Indy, make them 500 miles and dub them majors, but the more likely scenario would be to create a playoff-type system similar to NASCAR.
• Ryan Hunter-Reay had the fastest time in two practice sessions, clocking 1 minute, 10.6346 seconds and 100.302 mph during a second-run lap.
Footnotes.
Ashley Force Hood (funny car), Antron Brown (top fuel) and Mike Edwards (pro stock) were the top first-day qualifiers for the NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas.
• McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton had the best practice time for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, ahead of Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher.
