Kurt Busch claims pole at Auto Club Speedway
FONTANA, Calif. — Southern California businessman Gene Haas stood behind driver Kurt Busch through a NASCAR suspension amid domestic violence allegations.
Now all Busch wants to do is repay his team owner's loyalty.
Busch scored his first pole position in nearly two years on Friday, claiming the top spot for Sunday's Auto Club 400 ahead of Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick.
After exchanging high fives and fist bumps with his No. 41 crew on pit road at Auto Club Speedway, Busch immediately turned his focus to Haas, who puts Busch on the track through sponsorship from his Haas Automation company.
"I have everything to thank (because of) Gene Haas," said Busch, who toured Haas Automation on Thursday. "… Gene Haas has given me that chance."
Busch (185.142 mph) missed the first three races of the season after NASCAR suspended him in light of a protective order granted to his ex-girlfriend. But authorities never pressed charges against Busch, and the suspension was soon lifted.
NASCAR then said Busch would remain eligible for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. He needs to win a race and make it inside the top 30 in points to qualify for the 16-driver playoff. He is currently 33rd after a top-five finish last week at Phoenix International Raceway.
"I don't have anything to prove, but I have my job to do, which is to go out there and drive and race for wins," Busch said. "… It would mean the world to me to win for Gene Haas and deliver that win."
Harvick, who will start second, said it was a great sign for SHR that cars from different sides of the race shop will make up the front row. At SHR, Harvick's cars are assembled alongside those of Tony Stewart and Busch is paired with Danica Patrick.
"That's really good for everybody at the organization to know both sides of the shop are producing similar cars," Harvick said. "If you look back at the end of last year with (crew chief Tony) Gibson and Kurt, when they ran those last few races they qualified well, they raced well, they finished races and had a good foundation to go into this year.
"Everything happened (with the suspension) at the beginning of this year, and it's just taken a little longer to showcase what they had."
It was the first pole for Busch since May 2013 at Darlington Raceway.
Harvick will be followed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and David Ragan, who is substituting for Kyle Busch while he recovers from a broken a broken leg and broken foot suffered Feb. 21 in the Xfinity season opener at Daytona International Speedway
Kyle Larson was fifth, with Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer rounding out the top 10.
A handful of big names missed the final round of qualifying, including Joey Logano (13th), Jimmie Johnson (14th), Carl Edwards (15th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (17th), Kasey Kahne (19th), Tony Stewart (20th) and Danica Patrick (22nd).
"We just haven't been very fast here," Logano said. "Since we unloaded, we weren't very good. … We've got two practices tomorrow to figure it out. We'll fix it."
Among the notables missing the second round of qualifying included all three Roush Fenway Racing cars — Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Greg Biffle and Trevor Bayne — and Jamie McMurray (26th).
"It's been a challenging year and a half for us," Biffle said after qualifying 29th. "This weekend is no different than normal. … That's just not acceptable for how good of a team we are. We're dying a slow death."
Brett Moffitt, who is substituting for Brian Vickers in the No. 55 Toyota (because of Vickers' recurrence of blood clots), hit the wall during qualifying and will start 30th.
"Just struggling here," Moffitt said. "We need to find some speed."
Travis Kvapil and Reed Sorenson failed to qualify for the race.
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PHOTOS: Behind the wheel with Kurt Busch
Auto Club 400 Lineup
Friday's qualifying results from Auto Club Speedway:
1. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 185.142 mph.
2. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 185.047.
3. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 184.966.
4. (18) David Ragan, Toyota, 184.886.
5. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 184.337.
6. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 184.233.
7. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 184.087.
8. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 184.063.
9. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 183.725.
10. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 183.407.
11. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 183.383.
12. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 183.299.
13. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 183.323.
14. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 183.257.
15. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 182.978.
16. (9) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 182.904.
17. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 182.848.
18. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 182.764.
19. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 182.746.
20. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 182.445.
21. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 182.343.
22. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 182.14.
23. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 181.8.
24. (46) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 180.397.
25. (33) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 181.768.
26. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 181.626.
27. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 181.557.
28. (7) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 181.433.
29. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 181.392.
30. (55) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, 181.219.
31. (51) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 180.995.
32. (35) Cole Whitt, Ford, 180.56.
33. (34) Chris Buescher, Ford, 180.505.
34. (26) Jeb Burton, Toyota, 180.023.
35. (98) Josh Wise, Ford, 179.775.
36. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 179.314.
37. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, Owner Points.
38. (62) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, Owner Points.
39. (32) Mike Bliss, Ford, Owner Points.
40. (40) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, Owner Points.
41. (23) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, Owner Points.
42. (83) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, Owner Points.
43. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, Owner Points.
Failed to Qualify
44. (44) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 178.081.
45. (29) Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 176.878.