Edwards Earns New Hampshire Pole; Sunday’s Starting Lineup

LOUDON, NH – Carl Edwards never had the reputation as a spectacular qualifier – until this year.

On Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Edwards ran 135.453 mph (28.119 seconds) in the money round of knockout qualifying to earn the top start spot in Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300 (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the second race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

The Coors Light Pole Award was Edwards sixth of the year, doubling his previous single-season best. It was his third at New Hampshire, all coming in the last four races at the Magic Mile, and the 22nd of his career.

Starting Lineup

Edwards edged fellow Toyota driver and last week’s race winner, Martin Truex Jr. (135.212 mph) for the top starting spot by .05 seconds.

During a qualifying session that started slowly because more than a dozen cars were late to the grid thanks to inspection issues, Chase drivers grabbed 10 of the top 12 starting spots for Sunday’s race.

Non-Chaser Ryan Newman (134.896 mph) qualified third, followed by Jimmie Johnson (134.858 mph) and Denny Hamlin (134.796 mph).

Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray were sixth and seventh, respectively, with Matt Kenseth and non-Chaser Kasey Kahne eighth and ninth. Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch completed the top 12.

“These Toyotas are really fast,” said Edwards, who spent considerable time in qualifying trim earlier in the day. “It’s a fun place to drive when your car’s that good. (Crew chief) Dave (Rogers) made great changes.

“That’s what we needed. We didn’t run well at Chicago (a 15th-place finish). I was very frustrated. So to come here and start on the pole and get great pit stall, hopefully we can turn this into a good race.”

With his sixth pole of the year, Edwards won the Coors Light 6-Pack Award, worth $25,000 to the charity of the driver’s choice.

“Half of it’s going to Speedway Children’s Charities and half to the NASCAR Foundation in honor of Betty Jane France,” Edwards said. “It’s really cool of MillerCoors to do that. It’s going to help a lot of people.”

With a long family history at the track, Truex covets a win at the Magic Mile and was delighted with his front-row starting spot.

“I’ve been after this one a long time,” said Truex, whose father, Martin Truex Sr., raced in both the Busch North and XFINITY Series at NHMS. “I feel like we’ve been close before, and there’s no other track I’d rather win at right now.”

Notes: Elliott’s No. 24 Chevrolet received its fourth written warning for failure of pre-qualifying inspection and will have the last choice of pit stalls… The No. 4 Chevrolet ofKevin Harvick, the 2014 series champion, also had inspection issues and qualified 19th after getting to the grid. Harvick is 14th in the standings after a 20th-place run at Chicagoland. The 13th-16th-place drivers will be eliminated from the Chase after the Oct. 2 race at Dover… Truex led the second round of qualifying at 135.236 mph, a session that saw the four fastest drivers all within .010 seconds of each other.

by Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service