Talladega, AL (SportsNetwork.com) - Brian Scott claimed his first career pole in the Sprint Cup Series with a surprise victory in Saturday's knockout qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway.
During the third and final round of qualifying, which was five minutes in length, Tony Stewart held the provisional pole after the field of 12 cars had completed two laps around this 2.66-mile superspeedway. Scott, who is a regular in the Nationwide Series, topped Stewart for the pole after he was clocked at 198.290 mph on the third and last lap. Scott was running at the tail end of a six-car pack when he crossed the line.
Scott is driving the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in this race. His maiden pole came in just his fifth Sprint Cup start. Scott's previous best start in the series was 12th, which came in this year's Daytona 500.
Scott became the ninth different pole winner in 10 Sprint Cup races this season. Qualifying for last weekend's event at Richmond was rained out, with rookie Kyle Larson awarded the pole since he was fastest in practice.
Paul Menard, who is Scott's teammate, qualified second to give RCR the front starting row for Sunday's Aaron's 499 at Talladega. Menard turned a lap at 197.888 mph, which was 0.98 seconds behind Scott.
A.J. Allmendinger qualified third, followed by Casey Mears and Austin Dillon, who as a rookie this season captured his first pole at Daytona in February. Ryan Newman was sixth. The top-six finishers are either RCR drivers or use Earnhardt Childress Racing engines.
Stewart ended up qualifying 12th.
Talladega marked the first time knockout qualifying was used for a restrictor- plate race in NASCAR's premier series. The starting lineup for the first restrictor-plate event of the season, the Daytona 500, was determined by its traditional format -- time trials and then the twin qualifying races at Daytona (Budweiser Duel).
Scott posted the fastest lap in the second round of qualifying (10 minutes in length) at 196.910 mph.
During the opening round, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano made laps at 200.574 mph and 200.171 mph, respectively. Those were the first qualifying laps faster than 200 mph at Talladega since 1987, before NASCAR began using restrictor plates on the cars to lower the speeds. Busch and Logano did not make it past the second round, as Busch qualified 20th and Logano 16th.
Busch, though, will start the race from the rear of the field after his team made an engine change following Friday's practice sessions.
[SportsNetwork.com]
