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Montoya Kicks Off His Chase Bid With N.h. Pole
posted 09/18/09
5:32 pm
Montoya, one of the 12 drivers competing in this year's Chase, lapped the 1.058-mile oval at 133.431 m.p.h. (28.545 seconds) in his No.42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet for his second career Sprint Cup Series pole. He topped Ryan Newman's track qualifying record, set in September 2003. Montoya also led the way in today's Cup practice at New Hampshire.
"I think it's nice to be able to run this good," Montoya said. "A little lady luck on our side and we'll be fine.
Montoya's first pole came in April at Talladega. He will start the Chase in 11th place.
Tony Stewart, the second-seed driver in the Chase, will start on the outside pole after qualifying 0.18 seconds behind Montoya. Stewart held the points lead for the last 14 races, but now finds himself 10 markers behind Mark Martin.
"I'm happy with the way we qualified," Stewart said. "When we qualify good here, we normally race good here."
Kurt Busch matched Stewart's qualifying time, but will start third by virtue of his current points ranking of seventh.
"[The car] felt solid right off the truck," said Busch, who won the first Chase race at New Hampshire in 2004. "We're real good on the adjustments we made. We used some of it from last week at Richmond and some from the first race here this year."
Denny Hamlin qualified fourth, and Carl Edwards took the fifth spot. The top- five drivers in qualifying are in the Chase.
David Stremme, Martin Truex Jr., Bobby Labonte, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon, a Chase driver, completed the top-10.
Mark Martin, the top-seed driver in the Chase, will start 14th.
The remaining drivers in the Chase and their starting positions include: Kasey Kahne (11th), Jimmie Johnson (16th), Ryan Newman (18th), Greg Biffle (22nd) and Brian Vickers (26th). Biffle is the defending race winner.
Derrike Cope and Dexter Bean failed to qualify.
Sunday's 300-lap race is scheduled to start just after 2:00 p.m. (et).
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