Larson Disqualified, Truex On New Hampshire Pole
LOUDON, N.H. – Martin Truex Jr. will start from the pole for Sunday’s Overton’s 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after Kyle Larson’s fastest time in qualifying was disallowed.
Larson had originally won the pole for Sunday’s race during qualifying on Friday afternoon with a 28.568-second lap at 133.324 mph. However NASCAR officials discovered an unapproved rear deck lid fin in post-qualifying inspection and Larson’s time was disallowed.
As a result, Truex’s 28.621-second lap at 133.077 mph gave him his first pole of the season and the 13th of his career.
“Not the way we wanted to get our first pole of the year, but looking forward to starting up front and getting a good pit stall,” Truex said.
The disqualification Friday continued a bad week for Larson, who is without his regular crew chief Chad Johnston. Johnston was suspended by NASCAR for three races and fined $75,000 earlier this week after the sanctioning body found an illegal rear brake cooling on Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet last weekend at Kentucky Speedway.
Larson was also penalized 35 points by NASCAR, which dropped him out of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship lead. He enters the Overton’s 301 34 points behind Truex.
“Our Target Chevy has been really fast all day. It has a lot of speed. I really didn’t have to drive it that hard and it just makes a lot of speed, so that’s good,” Larson said before having his time disallowed. “We’re missing Chad this weekend and for the next couple of weeks, so it’s good to rebound with a pole. That’s pretty strong out of our organization.
“Hat’s off to everybody in the shop. It’s been so much fun this year. I’ve never really been a great qualifier, but this is our fourth pole this season.”
Larson will now start last in the 39-car field. It is the second-straight week Larson will start last after failing to make a qualifying lap last weekend at Kentucky Speedway when his car was unable to pass pre-qualifying inspection.
The 1.058-mile oval was treated with the PJ1 traction compound, previously called VHT, in the hopes of creating more racing lanes.
Jimmie Johnson will now line up second, with defending race winner Matt Kenseth starting third. Jamie McMurray and Kasey Kahne will start fourth and fifth, respectively.
Source :speedsport.com
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