TODAY’S RACE
NASCAR Sprint Cup Phoenix 500, noon, ESPN, 850-AM, 1380-AM
Matt Kenseth had no idea his pole-winning run at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., could benefit his championship-contending teammate.
When he found out he had assisted Carl Edwards, Kenseth pretended it was all part of the plan.
“That was my plan. I thought, ‘Man, if we can sit on the pole, that will really help him,’ ” Kenseth laughed.
Kenseth turned a lap at 137.101 mph on Saturday to win his third pole of the season. It came in a late run, and separated title contenders Edwards and Tony Stewart on the grid.
Before Kenseth’s lap, the two were seventh and eighth on the qualifying list and in line to start side-by-side in today’s race. But Edwards would have been on the outside, and new pavement at Phoenix has prevented the second line from adequately developing.
So when Kenseth wedged his way to the top of the board, Stewart dropped to eighth and Edwards to ninth. It means Stewart will start on the outside of the fourth row, and Edwards will line up on the inside of row five.
Edwards takes a three-point lead over Stewart into the penultimate event of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose qualified second and third as Ford swept the top three spots.
But the qualifying session was marked by drivers using strong adjectives in reference to the racing surface, which was paved over the summer.
Ambrose said the slick track was “pretty sketchy” and Allmendinger said his lap “was insane.” Jeff Gordon, who won here in February, called the surface “treacherous” after qualifying 23rd.
ELSEWHERE
Sam Hornish Jr., a former IndyCar star, passed Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on a restart midway through the 200-mile Nationwide Series race in Avondale, Ariz., and stayed up front on several restarts to claim his first win in 141 career NASCAR starts. Brad Keselowski was second and Edwards third. Stenhouse finished fifth and has a nearly insurmountable 41-point lead for the season title. … Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel took the pole position for today’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, matching Nigel Mansell’s record of 14 poles in a season.
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