November 13, 2009

Yahoo! Qualification Story – Phoenix

The last two winners and three of the last five have started from the pole at Phoenix. Is that a good omen for Martin Truex Jr.? Find out what we think in this week's Yahoo! qualification story (.pdf).

Truex wins Phoenix pole

Martin Truex Jr. posted was one of less than a handful of drivers who posted his best time on lap one; a speed of 135.120 was good enough for the pole for the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500k by Pennzoil.

Our View That makes him nearly a half mile per hour faster than second-place Kurt Busch, but qualification has not been his problem this year. After starting in the top 10 on 10 occasions this year, he has yet to finish better than 11th.

More Cup newsbreakers
Official tweets from the track

Surprising Hornish tops Phoenix practice 1

Sam Hornish Jr. edged Kasey Kahne by four-hundredths of a second to land atop the speed chart in the first Cup practice session. His fastest lap was 133.884 mph.

Our View Hornish took a lot of criticism for last week's incident with points' leader Jimmie Johnson. The best way to silence the critics is by going fast, but if this holds up and Hornish actually qualifies in the front of the field, his competitor's will have to feel a little uneasy.

So far in 2009, Hornish has been crash-prone.

More Cup newsbreakers
Official tweets from the track