BROOKLYN, Mich. — Kurt Busch’s impressive qualifying run Friday highlighted a strong day for Ford in Michigan.

Busch won his second NASCAR Cup Series pole of the season at Michigan International Speedway, posting a lap of 203.361 mph in his No. 41 Ford. It was the 24th pole of his career, and Ford ended up with six of the top seven spots in qualifying.

“Right now, Ford has definitely got all eight cylinders clicking hard,” Busch said. “So then it’s up to me.”

Brad Keselowski was second in qualifying, followed by Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Kyle Busch and Harvick are 1-2 in the points standings, and have won nine of the 14 races in the series this year.

Kyle Busch’s Toyota was the only non-Ford car in the top seven.

Kurt Busch also started first in Texas in April and finished seventh in the race. He hasn’t won this season but has seven top-10 finishes.

Advertisement

“It’s awesome to get the pole today. I wanted it bad. We went for it, made the right air pressure adjustment,” he said. “I love the fact that the track had the grip level it did today. The overcast gave me the confidence to go for it hard.”

Kurt Busch was ninth in the first round of qualifying and fourth in the second round. Then he came up with the fastest lap of the day.

Kyle Larson, who has won the last three Cup races at Michigan, was 26th in qualifying. Larson is winless on the season, and this is his lowest starting position since he started 38th in the Daytona 500.

“Our car has just been pretty far off, I feel like, all day. It’s really tight. I don’t feel like I can turn the wheel very far, either,” Larson said. “I don’t know why that is. But we’ve got some smart people in our race trailer and on our race team that will get it worked out. We’ll get some laps tomorrow and hopefully be better.”

Martin Truex Jr. was 17th in qualifying after winning last weekend at Pocono. He’s tied with Kyle Busch for the series lead with three poles this year.

FORMULA ONE: Max Verstappen drove the fastest laps in the first two practices at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Advertisement

Verstappen completed the 2.71-mile lap at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 1 minute, 12.198 seconds, a full second better than his best time in the morning. That was 0.13 seconds faster than Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Monaco winner Daniel Ricciardo, was third. Then came three-time defending Montreal winner Lewis Hamilton, and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton is looking for his fourth straight and his seventh overall win in Montreal. The four-time Formula One champion leads this year’s standings with 110 points in the first six races, 14 points ahead of Vettel.

INDYCAR: Graham Rahal will keep driving for his father’s team.

Rahal, who was in the last year of his contract with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, said he’s signed a five-year contract extension through 2023.

Rahal is the son of Bobby Rahal, the three-time open wheel champion.

Copy the Story Link

Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.