JOLIET, Ill. — Matt Kenseth will open the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship on the pole at Chicagoland Speedway today.
Kenseth had the fastest qualifying lap Saturday with a speed of 183.243 mph in his Roush Fenway Racing Ford. It easily held off Paul Menard, who turned a lap at 183.125 in a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, and Kurt Busch, who qualified third at 183.032 in a Penske Racing Dodge.
It’s just the sixth pole in 12 full seasons for Kenseth, and second this year.
“My cars have just been fast and driving really good,” Kenseth said. “I have always tried really hard. I have probably done a little better job at not overdriving the car.”
Keselowski prevails.
Brad Keselowski used a dominating run Saturday to win the Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.
Keselowski capitalized on Carl Edwards running out of gas on pit road to grab a sizable lead that was never challenged. He beat Edwards to the finish line by 8.568 seconds for his third win of the season.
It was the first win for the defending Nationwide champion since his July win at Indianapolis. He broke his ankle in a crash while testing at Road Atlanta four days after that win, and sat out three scheduled races as he healed.
He returned to NASCAR’s second-tier series three weeks ago, and broke through for the win on the eve of the opening round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Keselowski won two Cup races.
Dixon wins Japan pole
MOTEGI, Japan — New Zealand’s Scott Dixon secured the pole position for today’s Indy Japan at Twin Ring Motegi.
The Target Chip Ganassi driver posted the best lap of 1 minute, 38.3918 seconds to edge Team Penske driver Will Power of Australia by 0.0276 seconds.
American driver Graham Rahal was third.
Schumacher leads top fuel
CONCORD, N.C. — Tony Schumacher took the No. 1 spot in top-fuel qualifying at zMAX Dragway in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals, the opening event of the NHRA’s six-race playoffs.
Matt Hagan (funny car), Jason Line (pro stock)and Eddie Krawiec (pro stock motorcycle) also took the No. 1 qualifying spots in their respective categories.
Today’s races
NASCAR SPRINT CUP GEICO 400 Site: Joliet, Ill.
TV: 11 a.m., ESPN
Track: Chicagoland Speedway (tri-oval, 1.5 miles)
Race distance: 400.5 miles, 267 laps
Points standings
1. Kyle Busch 2,012
(tie) Kevin Harvick 2,012
3. Jeff Gordon 2,009
4. Matt Kenseth 2,006
5. Carl Edwards 2,003
(tie) Jimmie Johnson 2,003
(tie) Kurt Busch 2,003
(tie) Ryan Newman 2,003
9. Tony Stewart 2,000
(tie) D. Earnhardt Jr. 2,000
(tie) Brad Keselowski 2,000
(tie) Denny Hamlin 2,000
INDYCAR INDY JAPAN 300
Site: Motegi, Japan
TV: 10 p.m., Versus (Saturday)
Track: Twin Ring Motegi (road course, 2.983 miles)
Race distance: 187.9 miles, 63 laps
NHRA O’REILLY AUTO PARTS NATIONALS
Site: Concord, N.C.
TV: 6:30 p.m., ESPN2 (tape)
Track: zMAX Dragway
