Kyle Busch on pole for today’s Nationwide race at Indy

Early Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch broke the previous NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) qualifying track record with a lap speed of 179.888mph, to capture the pole for today’s Lilly Diabetes 250.

Busch, who held the previous qualifying track record of 179.644mph – set last year, received his fourth series pole of the 2014 season, his fortieth series career pole and his second series pole at “the Brickyard.”

Matt Kenseth, with a qualifying lap speed of 178.912mph. will start on the outside pole in second, and he will be followed by series Rookie of the Year (ROTY) candidate, Ty Dillon (178.402mph) starting third, Kevin Harvick (178.359) fourth and ROTY candidate Chase Elliott (177.806) starts fifth.

Rounding out the top-ten starting positions will be Joey Logano (177.760mph) starting sixth, Regan Smith (177.183) seventh, ROTY candidate Chris Buescher (177.009) eighth, Paul Menard (176.849) ninth and Brian Scott (176.620) will start tenth.

Failing to make the starting lineup were Kevin Lepage and Tommy Joe Martins.

The 3rd annual Lilly Diabetes 250 is scheduled to get underway around 4:50 p.m. (ET) this afternoon, and ESPN will provide television coverage beginning with their 4:00 p.m. (ET) NASCAR Countdown pre-race show

Lilly Diabetes 250 Qualifying Results
Pos.	Car #	Driver	Best Speed	Best Time	Gap
1	54	Kyle Busch(i)	179.888	50.031	Leader
2	20	Matt Kenseth(i)	178.912	50.304	-0.273
3	3	Ty Dillon #	178.402	50.448	-0.144
4	5	Kevin Harvick (i)	178.359	50.460	-0.012
5	9	Chase Elliott #	177.806	50.617	-0.157
6	22	Joey Logano(i)	177.760	50.630	-0.013
7	7	Regan Smith	177.183	50.795	-0.165
8	60	Chris Buescher #	177.009	50.845	-0.050
9	33	Paul Menard (i)	176.849	50.891	-0.046
10	2	Brian Scott	176.620	50.957	-0.066
11	6	Trevor Bayne	176.388	51.024	-0.067
12	11	Elliot Sadler	176.367	51.030	-0.006
Eliminated From Round 2
13	16	Ryan Reed #	176.776	50.912	0.118
14	42	Kyle Larson(i)	176.540	50.980	-0.068
15	31	Dylan Kwasniewski #	176.540	50.980	0.000
16	98	David Ragan (i)	176.377	51.027	-0.047
17	62	Brendan Gaughan	175.514	51.278	-0.251
18	99	James Buescher	174.832	51.478	-0.200
19	93	Mike Harmon	174.112	51.691	-0.213
20	39	Ryan Sieg #	173.511	51.870	-0.179
21	43	Dakoda Armstrong #	173.070	52.002	-0.132
22	84	Chad Boat #	172.861	52.065	-0.063
23	28	J.J. Yeley	172.642	52.131	-0.066
24	44	David Starr	172.351	52.219	-0.088
Eliminated From Round 1
25	51	Jeremy Clements	172.668	52.123	0.096
26	46	Matt DiBenedetto	172.189	52.268	-0.145
27	40	Josh Wise(i)	172.091	52.298	-0.030
28	14	Eric McClure	171.785	52.391	-0.093
29	19	Mike Bliss	171.766	52.397	-0.006
30	01	Landon Cassill	171.487	52.482	-0.085
31	4	Jeffrey Earnhardt	171.285	52.544	-0.062
32	55	Jamie Dick	171.005	52.630	-0.086
33	17	Tanner Berryhill	170.904	52.661	-0.031
34	72	Carl Long	170.258	52.861	-0.200
35	25	John Wes Townley (i)	170.078	52.917	-0.056
36	70	Derrike Cope	170.052	52.925	-0.008
37	87	Josh Reaume	168.970	53.264	-0.339
38	52	Joey Gase	167.504	53.730	-0.466
39	23	Robert Richardson, Jr	166.448	54.071	-0.341
40	10	Blake Koch	169.898	52.973	1.098
DNQ	74	Kevin Lepage	169.795	53.005	-0.032
DNQ	76	Tommy Joe Martins #	0.000	0.000	53.005

Driver in on Owner Points
(i) Ineligible for Driver Points in this Series
# – Rookie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bayne & Joe Martins Fastest in NNS Aaron’s 312 First and Final Practice.

First Practice:

Trevor Bayne, with a lap speed of 190.378 m.p.h., was the quickest Thursday afternoon during the first NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Aaron’s 312 practice session at Talladega Superspeedway.

Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) candidates, Chris Buescher (190.370 m.p.h) and Ryan Reed (190.366 m.p.h.) were second and third quickest respectively, while Kyle Larson (190.121) was fourth and David Ragan (189.808) was fifth.

Another ROTY candidate, Ty Dillon (189.171 m.p.h.) put up the sixth quickest lap speed, and was followed by Brian Scott (189.144) who was seventh, Brendan Gaughan (189.025) eighth, Elliott Sadler (188.660) ninth and James Buescher (188.645) rounding out the top-ten quickest.

NNS Aarons 312 First Practice Session Speeds
Pos.	Car #	Driver	Best Speed	Best Time	Behind	# Laps
1	6	Trevor Bayne	190.378	50.300	Leader	20
2	60	Chris Buescher #	190.370	50.302	-0.002	19
3	16	Ryan Reed #	190.366	50.303	-0.003	16
4	42	Kyle Larson(i)	190.121	50.368	-0.068	24
5	98	David Ragan (i)	189.808	50.451	-0.151	22
6	3	Ty Dillon#	189.171	50.621	-0.321	18
7	2	Brian Scott	189.144	50.628	-0.328	14
8	62	Brendan Gaughan	189.025	50.660	-0.360	14
9	11	Elliot Sadler	188.660	50.758	-0.458	11
10	99	James Buescher	188.645	50.762	-0.462	16
11	20	Darrell Wallace Jr (i)	187.949	50.951	-0.651	23
12	54	Sam Hornish Jr	187.934	50.954	-0.654	22
13	31	Dylan Kwasniewski #	186.329	51.393	-1.093	19
14	43	Dakoda Armstrong #	186.256	51.413	-1.113	22
15	22	Ryan Blaney(i)	186.119	51.451	-1.151	25
16	51	Jeremy Clements	185.974	51.491	-1.191	17
17	28	J.J. Yeley	185.953	51.497	-1.197	21
18	7	Regan Smith	184.590	51.877	-1.577	21
19	9	Chase Elliott #	184.573	51.882	-1.582	16
20	5	Kasey Kehne (i)	184.569	51.883	-1.583	12
21	52	Joey Gase	184.356	51.943	-1.643	16
22	39	Ryan Sieg #	184.260	51.970	-1.670	14
23	01	Landon Cassill	184.126	52.008	-1.708	10
24	84	Chad Boat	184.026	52.036	-1.736	15
25	87	Joe Nemechek*(i)	183.980	52.049	-1.749	9
26	25	John Wes Townley (i)	183.892	52.074	-1.774	18
27	93	Mike Wallace	182.497	52.472	-2.172	18
28	40	Josh Wise(i)	181.182	52.853	-2.553	10
29	4	Jeffrey Earnhardt	180.207	53.139	-2.839	16
30	55	Jamie  Dick	175.826	54.463	-4.163	5
31	14	Eric McClure	174.907	54.749	-4.449	8
32	19	Mike Bliss	174.773	54.791	-4.491	3
33	10	Blake Koch	174.252	54.955	-4.655	3
34	74	Mike Harmon*	172.258	55.591	-5.291	10
35	23	Robert Richardson Jr	171.724	55.764	-5.464	4
36	85	Bobby Gerhart	150.784	63.508	-13.208	3
37	17	Tanner Berryhill* #	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
38	44	David Star	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
39	46	Matt DiBenedetto*	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
40	70	Derrike Cope*	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
41	76	Tommy Joe Martins* #	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
42	91	Jeff Green	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0

(i) Ineligible for Driver Points in this Series, # Denotes Rookie, * Required to Qualify on Time

Final Practice:

During the final NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Aaron’s 312 practice session late Thursday afternoon, it was Tommy Joe Martins with a lap speed of 185.891 m.p.h., on top of the speed chart at Talladega Superspeedway.

Jeffrey Earnhardt, with a lap speed of 185.877 m.p.h., put up the second fastest lap, and he was followed by Kyle Larson (185.823 m.p.h.) who third fastest, Trevor Bayne (185.226) fourth and Brendan Gaughan (185.136) was fifth.

Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) candidate, Ryan Sieg (185.122 m.p.h.) was sixth fastest, while Brian Scott (185.097) was seventh, John Wes Townley (184.455) eighth, ROTY candidate Dakoda Armstrong (184.242) ninth and Josh Wise (183.561) rounds out the top-ten fastest in the session.

On Friday, the teams return at 6:40 p.m. (ET) for qualifying to determine the starting lineup for Saturday afternoon’s 23rd annual Aaron’s 312. The race is scheduled to get underway around 3:20 p.m. (ET) and ESPN will provide television coverage of the event beginning with their 2:30 p.m. (ET) NASCAR Countdown pre-race show.

NNS Aarons 312 Final Practice Session Speeds
Pos.	Car #	Driver	Best Speed	Best Time	Behind	# Laps
1	76	Tommy Joe Martins* #	185.891	51.514	Leader	15
2	4	Jeffrey Earnhardt	185.877	51.518	-0.004	11
3	42	Kyle Larson(i)	185.823	51.533	-0.019	12
4	6	Trevor Bayne	185.226	51.699	-0.185	3
5	62	Brendan Gaughan	185.136	51.724	-0.210	4
6	39	Ryan Sieg #	185.122	51.728	-0.214	9
7	2	Brian Scott	185.097	51.735	-0.221	4
8	25	John Wes Townley (i)	184.455	51.915	-0.401	20
9	43	Dakoda Armstrong #	184.242	51.975	-0.461	14
10	40	Josh Wise(i)	183.561	52.168	-0.654	4
11	28	J.J. Yeley	182.895	52.358	-0.844	9
12	93	Mike Wallace	182.685	52.418	-0.904	7
13	54	Sam Hornish Jr	182.508	52.469	-0.955	7
14	10	Blake Koch	182.497	52.472	-0.958	4
15	14	Eric McClure	182.449	52.486	-0.972	4
16	91	Jeff Green (PC)	182.438	52.489	-0.975	9
17	19	Mike Bliss	182.414	52.496	-0.982	4
18	84	Chad Boat	182.351	52.514	-1.000	4
19	70	Derrike Cope*	181.329	52.810	-1.296	18
20	17	Tanner Berryhill* #	181.298	52.819	-1.305	25
21	23	Robert Richardson Jr	180.580	53.029	-1.515	13
22	74	Mike Harmon*	177.692	53.891	-2.377	12
23	46	Matt DiBenedetto*	177.222	54.034	-2.520	13
24	98	David Ragan (i)	176.123	54.371	-2.857	15
25	55	Jamie  Dick	175.919	54.434	-2.920	5
26	9	Chase Elliott #	175.748	54.487	-2.973	7
27	44	David Star	175.086	54.693	-3.179	8
28	85	Bobby Gerhart	174.198	54.972	-3.458	7
29	87	Joe Nemechek*(i)	156.657	61.127	-9.613	3
30	3	Ty Dillon#	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
31	5	Kasey Kehne (i)	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
32	7	Regan Smith	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
33	11	Elliot Sadler	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
34	16	Ryan Reed #	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
35	20	Darrell Wallace Jr (i)	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
36	22	Ryan Blaney(i)	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
37	31	Dylan Kwasniewski #	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
38	51	Jeremy Clements	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
39	52	Joey Gase	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
40	60	Chris Buescher #	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
41	99	James Buescher	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0
42	01	Landon Cassill	No Time Set	No Time Set	No Time Set	0

(i) Ineligible for Driver Points in this Series, # Denotes Rookie, * Required to Qualify on Time