NASCAR: 2018 O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas qualifying results – Kurt Busch on pole
By Asher Fair
Kurt Busch is set to start from the pole position following a shortened qualifying session for the seventh NASCAR Cup Series race of the 2018 season at Texas.
The starting grid for the seventh NASCAR Cup Series race of the 2018 season, which is the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, has been set after only one of the three scheduled rounds of qualifying took place Friday.
Qualifying around the four-turn, 1.5-mile D-shaped oval was halted as a result of lightning, and it never resumed. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kurt Busch took the pole position for the race after posting the fastest lap time in the first and only round of qualifying.
Busch is set to lead a 1-2-3 Stewart-Haas Racing and a 1-2-3-4 Ford sweep of the starting positions for Sunday’s race after Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney qualified in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place for the race, respectively.
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Points leader Kyle Busch qualified in 8th place in his #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, while the top Toyota qualifier was his teammate Denny Hamlin in 5th in his #11 Toyota. The top Chevrolet qualifier was Jimmie Johnson in 10th in his #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Of the 38 drivers entered in Sunday’s race, only two did not turn laps in qualifying. Those two drivers were Reed Sorenson of Premium Motorsports and Carl Long of MBM Motorsports. Neither one of those two drivers is expected to be a factor for even a top 25 finish on Sunday.
Here are the full qualifying results for the 2018 O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Manufacturer |
| 1 | Kurt Busch | #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 3 | Clint Bowyer | #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 4 | Ryan Blaney | #12, Team Penske, Ford |
| 5 | Denny Hamlin | #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 6 | Martin Truex Jr. | #78, Furniture Row Racing, Toyota |
| 7 | Joey Logano | #22, Team Penske, Ford |
| 8 | Kyle Busch | #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 9 | Jimmie Johnson | #48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 10 | Kyle Larson | #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
| 11 | Brad Keselowski | #2, Team Penske, Ford |
| 12 | Aric Almirola | #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 13 | Trevor Bayne | #6, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 14 | Daniel Suarez | #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 15 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | #43, Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 16 | Alex Bowman | #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 17 | Austin Dillon | #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 18 | Chris Buescher | #37, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 19 | Paul Menard | #21, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford |
| 20 | Chase Elliott | #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 21 | Erik Jones | #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 22 | A.J. Allmendinger | #47, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 23 | Ty Dillon | #13, Germain Racing, Chevrolet |
| 24 | Jamie McMurray | #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
| 25 | Ryan Newman | #31, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 26 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | #17, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 27 | Michael McDowell | #34, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 28 | Kasey Kahne | #95, Leavine Family Racing, Chevrolet |
| 29 | David Ragan | #38, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 30 | Matt DiBenedetto | #32, Go Fas Racing, Ford |
| 31 | Ross Chastain | #15, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 32 | Gray Gaulding | #23, BK Racing, Toyota |
| 32 | Harrison Rhodes | #51, Rick Ware Racing, Chevrolet |
| 33 | William Byron | #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 34 | Cole Whitt | #72, TriStar Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 35 | Landon Cassill | #00, StarCom Racing, Chevrolet |
| 37 | Reed Sorenson | #55, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 38 | Carl Long | #66, MBM Motorsports, Toyota |
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Be sure to tune in to the live broadcast of the 2018 O’Reilly Auto Parts on Fox Sports 1 from Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas on Sunday, April 8th starting at 2:00 pm ET.