Kyle Busch records fourth-fastest qualifying speed in Nationwide history, takes pole at Michigan - MotorSportsTalk

Kyle Busch waited until the last minute and needed just one lap to earn the pole for Saturday’s Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series Race at Michigan International Speedway.

Busch recorded the fourth-fastest qualifying speed in NNS history, covering the two-mile, high-speed MIS surface with a track record at 193.242 mph (at 37.259 seconds).

It was Busch’s first NNS pole at Michigan.

“Just being a little bit further back in line helped out a little bit, but we have a fast race car and were able to hold the pedal down much of the way around,” Busch said. “Being able to do all that, putting it all together, just worked in our favor.”

Chase Elliott was second-fastest at 192.735 mph, followed by Ty Dillon (192.513), Kyle Larson (192.287) and Paul Menard (192.195).

Sixth through 12th-fastest were Brian Scott (192.041), Dylan Kwasniewski (191.857), Regan Smith (191.505), Joey Logano (191.123), Chris Buescher (184.895), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (158.541) and Elliott Sadler.

Sadler did not record a speed in the third and final round of knockout qualifying because his Toyota Camry brushed the outside retaining wall while making his attempt.

Here’s the starting lineup for Saturday’s Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 250 at Michigan International Speedway:

Row 1 Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott

Row 2 Ty Dillon, Kyle Larson

Row 3 Paul Menard, Brian Scott

Row 4 Dylan Kwasniewski, Regan Smith

Row 5 Joey Logano, Chris Buescher

Row 6 Dale Earnhardt Jr., Elliot Sadler

Row 7 Sam Hornish Jr., Trevor Bayne

Row 8 Ryan Sieg, Brendan Gaughan

Row 9 Ross Chastain, Dakoda Armstrong

Row 10 Mike Bliss, JJ Yeley

Row 11 James Buescher, Blake Koch

Row 12 Jamie Dick, Ryan Reed

Row 13 Josh Wise, Landon Cassill

Row 14 Jeff Green, Jeremy Clements

Row 15 Jeffrey Earnhardt, Mike Harmon

Row 16 Carl Long, Kevin Lepage

Row 17 Matt Carter, Tanner Berryhill

Row 18 Derrike Cope, Benny Gordon

Row 19 Ryan Ellis, Harrison Rhodes

Row 20 Tim Schendel, Tommy Joe Martins

DNQ: Matt DiBenedetto, Morgan Schepherd

Follow me @JerryBonkowski

After his Anaheim 2 crash, Eli Tomac was surprised he was not injured, but despite getting knocked down momentarily, he picked himself up, rode to last week’s win and reascended to the top of the SuperMotocross Power Rankings after Houston. This is the third time in three weeks Tomac has topped the rankings.

SuperMotocross Power Rankings Houston — *Jason Anderson has back-to-back podiums to his credit and sits second in the Power Rankings. – Feld Motor Sports/MX Sports Pro Racing/Align Media*

Last week, Tomac finished second in his heat before winning the Main – and that translated to near-perfect points in the Power Rankings, which award 100 for a win in the feature and 90 for a heat victory. Tomac’s average was marred by the Houston accident when he finished 13th in that heat before settling just outside the top five in overall standings. Racing is about bouncing back and last year’s Supercross and Motocross champion Tomac did just that as he chases a third consecutive title.

Jason Anderson earned his second consecutive podium finish with a third at Houston. He momentarily rolled past Aaron Plessinger into second during a restart following an accident involving Dylan Ferrandis and held that position for four trips around the track until he was tracked down by Chase Sexton. Afterward Anderson faded and finished 12 seconds off the pace, but along with a heat win, he easily leapfrogged Ken Roczen and Cooper Webb, who struggled in the fourth race of the season.

MORE: Eli Tomac rebounds from Anaheim 2 crash with Houston win

Webb held his position by passing Roczen in NBC’s SuperMotocross Power Rankings after Houston. Webb has been solid in 2023 with a worst moto result of seventh in the first Triple Crown race at Anaheim 2, but in order to be considered a solid challenger to Tomac he needs to win either a heat or main this week in Tampa.

Roczen was involved in the incident that sidelined Ferrandis in Houston. Racing for eighth at the time, his bike may have sustained some damage when Ferrandis landed on his back tire, but he was not overly impressive in his heat either with a fifth-place finish. That was enough to drop him three positions in the standings, but he still has Tomac in sight.

After his disappointing heat in San Diego when he crashed and sustained enough damage to place him last, Sexton has roared back. He won the overall in Anaheim 2’s Triple Crown format and narrowed the points’ gap slightly on Tomac. Last week he yarded the field in his heat race and won by a wide margin. A modest start in the Main kept him from getting to Tomac’s back wheel early in the Houston round, and he lost a little ground in the championship.

450 Rankings

This Week	Rider	Power Avg.	Last Week	Diff.
1	Eli Tomac [3 Main; 3 Heats Wins]	85.20	2	1
2	Jason Anderson [2 Heat Wins]	82.60	4	2
3	Cooper Webb	82.10	3	0
4	Ken Roczen	81.70	1	-3
5	Chase Sexton [1 Main; 3 Heat Wins]	80.70	6	1
6	Dylan Ferrandis	71.60	5	-1
7	Aaron Plessinger	71.30	8	1
8	Justin Barcia	70.10	7	-1
9	Justin Cooper	68.00		NA
10	Adam Cianciarulo	67.40	9	-1
11	Joey Savatgy	61.20	10	-1
12	Marvin Musquin	61.00	10	-2
13	Malcolm Stewart [1 Heat Win]	58.75	11	-2
14	Christian Craig	57.20	13	-1
15	Colt Nichols	56.50	14	-1
16	Dean Wilson	49.30	15	-1
17	Justin Hill	39.67	18	1
18	Shane McElrath	36.33	22	4
19	Brandon Scharer	34.00	21	2
20	Logan Karnow	33.33	19	-1

Supercross 450 Points

Here’s your updated points standings after round 5️⃣ of @MonsterEnergy Supercross 📋#SupercrossLIVE #SuperMotocross pic.twitter.com/6ZHG3KDa8c

— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) February 5, 2023

The 250 East division debuted in Houston and with only one race – and therefore no chance yet to stumble – three of their riders jumped to the top of the chart.

Hunter Lawrence had a perfect week with wins in both his main and heat. It wasn’t without drama, however, as he was forced to jump wide early in the feature to avoid contact with Tom Vialle, who was making his Supercross debut. Without a former 250 champion in the field, it is guaranteed someone new will grace the top of the box at Salt Lake City after the season-ender and it looks like it’s going to be Lawrence’s to lose.

It was more than four years ago that Jordon Smith scored his last Supercross podium in Detroit. Despite finishing second that afternoon, he was battling a wrist injury that eventually sidelined him. More injuries have followed, but Smith was a favorite to win the title in 2019 and he’s shown how well he can ride when he’s healthy.

Debuting third in the Houston SuperMotocross Power Rankings, Max Anstie moved from the 450 class last year to 250s in 2023 and the change has gone better than he anticipated. Finishing second in both his heat and main, Anstie was edged by Smith because he finished second behind that rider in their heat. That is Anstie’s first top-10 since finishing sixth at Southwick, Massachusetts last year on his 450. In that race, he scored fifth-place results in both motos.

Supercross 250 Points

Haiden Deegan proved the hype surrounding his graduation into the 250 class was well deserved and he landed fourth in his division and fifth overall in the SuperMotocross Power Rankings. In his first professional Supercross race, he finished fourth in his heat. In a field with twice the talent, he finished fourth again in the main. At Houston, he balanced aggression with patience. Now that he has a taste of that success, everyone will be watching him closely at Tampa to see if he can continue tiptoeing on the line.

Michael Mosiman, Jeremy Martin, and Vialle are tied for fifth in the 250 East division and seventh overall.

Vialle is the most notable of these three because he challenged for a podium position during the Main before making a mistake and falling in a turn. Significantly, this was not only his 250 debut, but his first time in Supercross. As with Deegan, he has generated a lot of attention for the coming weeks.

250 Rankings

This Week	Rider	Power Avg.	Last Week	Diff.
1	Hunter Lawrence – E [1 Main; 1 Heat Win]	95.00		NA
2	Jordon Smith – E [1 Heat Win]	90.50		NA
2	Max Anstie – E	90.50		NA
4	Jett Lawrence – W [2 Main; 2 Heat Wins]	89.13	1	-3
5	Haiden Deegan – E	81.50		NA
6	Cameron McAdoo – W [1 Heat Win]	77.63	2	-4
7	Mitchell Oldenburg – W	77.00	3	-4
7	Michael Mosiman – E	77.00		NA
7	Jeremy Martin – E	77.00		NA
7	Tom Vialle – E	77.00		NA
11	Stilez Robertson – W [1 Heat Win]	76.75	4	-7
12	Chance Hymas – E	74.50		-12
13	Levi Kitchen – W [1 Main Win]	73.75	5	-8
14	RJ Hampshire – W [3 Heat Wins]	70.00	6	-8
15	Max Vohland – W	69.29	7	-8
16	Cullin Park – E	66.00		NA
17	Chris Blose – E	65.50		NA
18	Derek Kelley – W	63.75	8	-10
19	Enzo Lopes – W	63.25	9	-10
20	Pierce Brown – W	61.29	10	-10

* The NBC Power Rankings assign 100 points to a Main event winner and 90 points for each Heat and Triple Crown win, (Triple Crown wins are included with heat wins below the rider’s name). The points decrement by a percentage equal to the number of riders in the field until the last place rider in each event receives five points. The Power Ranking is the average of these percentage points over the past 45 days.

POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 3 AT ANAHEIM 2: Consistency makes Ken Roczen king
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 2 AT SAN DIEGO: Roczen moves up, Chase Sexton falls
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 1 AT ANAHEIM 1: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence gain an early advantage

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