Qualifying report

NASCAR Cup Chicagoland

Paul Menard takes surprise pole at Chicagoland

A Ford at the top of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying was not a surprise but the driver certainly was.

Jim Utter

Edited: Jul 1, 2018, 2:40 AM

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Paul Menard, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford Fusion Menards / Sylvania

Paul Menard, Team Penske, Ford Mustang Discount Tire

Paul Menard, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford Fusion Menards / Richmond

Paul Menard rocked to the top of the leaderboard in the final round of Saturday’s qualifying session, picking up speed where others dropped off. Menard’s average lap speed of 180.012 mph judged edged Ryan Blaney (179.880 mph) to win the pole for Sunday’s Overton’s 400.

Earlier in the day, fellow Ford drivers Blaney and Brad Keslowski had led the two practice sessions at Chicagoland Speedway.

Chase Elliott ended up third, Denny Hamlin fourth and Kurt Busch completed the top five.

Rounding out the Top 12 starters are Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola, Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Martin Truex Jr.

The pole is just Menard’s second in the series in 416 starts. His only previous pole came in 2008 at the July Daytona race.

“My guys did a hell of a job today,” Menard said of his No. 21 Wood Brothers team. “We weren’t very good in practice. We did a mock qualifying run and I was so loose that I aborted it. So, we never really got a true mock run.

“We got a little too loose in Round 2, adjusted for it and Round 3 drove like Round 1. The track is hard on tires but the sun is going down, it’s getting a little cooler. I just hit my marks and Greg (Irwin, crew chief) and the guys made good adjustments.”

Inspection issues

Four teams had their times disallowed after failing post-qualifying inspection. They were Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Chris Buescher. All will have to start from the rear of the field on Sunday.

Additionally, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will keep his official starting spot but moves to the rear on the pace laps for an unapproved adjustment.

Round 2

Suarez surprised in Round 2 vaulting to the top of the leaderboard with best lap so far of the session (180.668 mph).

Bowyer ended up second (179.868 mph) and Kurt Busch third (179.641 mph). Elliott and Almirola completed the top five.

Also advancing to the final round were Blaney, Menard, Byron, Hamlin, Keselowski, Truex and Jones. Elliott and Byron were the only Chevrolet drivers to make the cut.

Among those who failed to advance were Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson.

“We were just too loose. We changed a lot from practice,” said Harvick, who will line up 13th on Sunday.

Said Bowman over his team radio: “I couldn't get committed to the throttle in (Turn) 2.” His crew chief, Greg Ives, replied, “Sorry about that, we should have been better.”

Round 1

Three drivers who had competed in Saturday afternoon’s Xfinity Series race led the way in the first round.

Menard posted the fastest average lap speed (180.120 mph). He was followed by Harvick and Elliott. Logano and Kurt Busch completed the top-five.

Elliott even made a trip to the infield care center before the start of qualifying to receive some IV fluids. High temperatures sent several drivers seeking medical attention following the Xfinity race.

Among those who failed to advance to the second round were Trevor Bayne, Darrell Wallace Jr., David Ragan, Ty Dillon and Kasey Kahne.

“We got through (Turns) 1 and 2 OK and then I gave up a lot of time in Turn 3,” Bayne said. “I’m glad to be back at the race track.”

Veteran Matt Kenseth has replaced Bayne in most of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Ford’s races in the second half of the season as the organization attempts to find ways to improve performance.

Cla#DriverManufacturerTimeGapMph 1 21 united_states Paul Menard Ford 29.998 180.012 2 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 30.020 0.022 179.880 3 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 30.042 0.044 179.748 4 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 30.044 0.046 179.736 5 41 Kurt Busch Ford 30.076 0.078 179.545 6 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 30.085 0.087 179.491 7 10 united_states Aric Almirola Ford 30.124 0.126 179.259 8 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 30.152 0.154 179.093 9 24 William Byron Chevrolet 30.158 0.160 179.057 10 20 Erik Jones Toyota 30.197 0.199 178.826 11 19 mexico Daniel Suarez Toyota 30.627 0.629 176.315 12 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 30.918 0.920 174.656 13 4 united_states Kevin Harvick Ford 30.208 0.210 178.761 14 22 Joey Logano Ford 30.213 0.215 178.731 15 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 30.254 0.256 178.489 16 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 30.329 0.331 178.047 17 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 30.379 0.381 177.754 18 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 30.391 0.393 177.684 19 31 united_states Ryan Newman Chevrolet 30.459 0.461 177.288 20 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 30.470 0.472 177.223 21 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 30.498 0.500 177.061 22 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 30.510 0.512 176.991 23 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 30.597 0.599 176.488 24 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 30.617 0.619 176.373 25 6 united_states Trevor Bayne Ford 30.585 0.587 176.557 26 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 30.616 0.618 176.378 27 38 David Ragan Ford 30.701 0.703 175.890 28 95 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 30.712 0.714 175.827 29 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 30.775 0.777 175.467 30 34 Michael McDowell Ford 30.980 0.982 174.306 31 15 united_states Ross Chastain Chevrolet 31.019 1.021 174.087 32 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 31.031 1.033 174.020 33 23 Gray Gaulding Toyota 31.052 1.054 173.902 34 99 Kyle Weatherman Chevrolet 31.627 1.629 170.740 35 00 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 31.688 1.690 170.412 36 72 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 31.916 1.918 169.194 37 51 united_states B.J. McLeod Ford 31.934 1.936 169.099 38 07 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 32.053 2.055 168.471 39 66 Timmy Hill Toyota 32.226 2.228 167.567

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