Kyle Busch takes pole for Coke Zero 400 at Daytona - MotorSportsTalk

Tomorrow night, Kyle Busch will seek to win his second Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway from the pole after posting a lap at 193.723 miles per hour during today’s qualifying sessions. For “Rowdy,” the occasion was a bit of history for him, as it was the first time he’d ever taken pole position on a restrictor-plate track.

“I never thought I’d ever get one,” Busch admitted to NASCAR.com. “But I guess never says never. It’s pretty cool, because it has absolutely nothing to do with the driver, but it has everything to do with the car and equipment you’re driving.”

Busch led a Toyota sweep of the top three positions on the grid in qualifying. He’ll be joined on the front row tomorrow night by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and Kentucky winner Matt Kenseth, whose lap at 193.299 miles per hour wasn’t quite enough to nab P1. Michael Waltrip Racing’s Clint Bowyer (193.158 mph) will start from the inside of Row 2 alongside Kasey Kahne, who led the Chevrolet camp this afternoon with a 193.154 mph lap.

Martin Truex Jr. and Paul Menard will go off from Row 3, followed by Michael Waltrip and championship leader Jimmie Johnson in Row 4, and Roush Fenway teammates Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Greg Biffle in Row 5.

Danica Patrick, who was a last-lap contender for victory at the season-opening Daytona 500, will start 11th – two spots of her boss and defending Coke Zero 400 champ Tony Stewart in 13th. Defending Cup champ Brad Keselowski and longtime Daytona threat Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 15th and 16th, respectively.

COKE ZERO 400 – STARTING GRID
1. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 193.723 mph.
2. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 193.299.
3. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 193.158.
4. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 193.154.
5. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 193.129.
6. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 193.075.
7. (55) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 193.058.
8. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 193.009.
9. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 192.984.
10. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 192.947.
11. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 192.93.
12. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 192.901.
13. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 192.876.
14. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 192.864.
15. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 192.802.
16. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 192.798.
17. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 192.724.
18. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 192.715.
19. (13) Casey Mears, Ford, 192.715.
20. (21) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 192.583.
21. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 192.522.
22. (78) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 192.489.
23. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 192.448.
24. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 192.439.
25. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 192.197.
26. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 192.152.
27. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 191.877.
28. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 191.755.
29. (7) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 191.546.
30. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 191.306.
31. (98) Michael McDowell, Ford, 190.795.
32. (36) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 190.735.
33. (51) A J Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 190.726.
34. (47) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 190.375.
35. (30) David Stremme, Toyota, 190.202.
36. (95) Scott Speed, Ford, 189.853.
37. (35) Josh Wise, Ford, Owner Points.
38. (34) David Ragan, Ford, Owner Points.
39. (32) Terry Labonte, Ford, Owner Points.
40. (93) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, Owner Points.
41. (83) David Reutimann, Toyota, Owner Points.
42. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, Owner Points.
43. (33) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.

Seattle Supercross numbers — *Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports*

For the fifth time in 10 rounds. Sexton, Webb, and Eli Tomac shared the podium in Detroit. Between them, the trio has taken 23 podiums, leaving only seven for the remainder of the field. Jason Anderson, Ken Roczen and Justin Barcia have two each with Aaron Plessinger scoring the other.

Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.

Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.

Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.

The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.

In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.

Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.

Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.

Last Five Seattle Winners

450s
2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto

250s
2022: Hunter Lawrence
2019: Dylan Ferrandis
2018: Aaron Plessinger
2017: Aaron Plessinger
2014: Cole Seely

By the Numbers

Detroit
Indianapolis
Daytona
Arlington
Oakland
Tampa
Houston
Anaheim 2
San Diego

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How to Watch Seattle Supercross
Dylan Ferrandis may return before SX finale
SMX develops “Leader Lights”
Power Rankings after Detroit
Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan
Results and points after Detroit
Chase Sexton wins in Detroit, penalized seven points

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