NASCAR Cup Series: Kyle Busch takes pole for 2019 Bluegreen Vacations 500

Kyle Busch took his first pole position of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season in the penultimate race of the playoffs, the Bluegreen Vacations 500, at ISM Raceway.

It had been over a year since Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch took a pole position for a NASCAR Cup Series race, as he last did so for last October’s round of 8 playoff race at Martinsville Speedway.

Busch changed that by taking the pole position for tomorrow afternoon’s round of 8 playoff race at ISM Raceway, the Bluegreen Vacations 500, ending a 37-race pole position drought as he also seeks to end a 20-race win drought that has been building since he won at Pocono Raceway more than five months ago in early June.

Busch, who has now taken at least one pole position in each of the last 12 seasons, took the pole position for this 312-lap race around the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) ISM Raceway oval in Avondale, Arizona by recording a top lap time of 25.693 seconds (140.116 miles per hour) in his #18 Toyota in the single-car qualifying session for this race.

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He led a top seven sweep of round of 8 playoff drivers in this qualifying session. He is set to start alongside Team Penske’s Joey Logano in second place in his #22 Ford. Busch and Logano are the two drivers who haven’t yet qualified for the Championship 4 but sit ahead of the Championship 4 cut line.

Qualifying in third place was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin in his #11 Toyota. He is set to start alongside teammate Martin Truex Jr. in fourth in his #19 Toyota. Truex has already locked up his spot in the Championship 4 after winning the race at Martinsville Speedway two Sundays ago.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott are set to share the third row after qualifying in fifth and sixth place in their #42 Chevrolet and #9 Chevrolet as the highest qualifying Chevrolet drivers.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, who clinched his spot in the Championship 4 by winning this past Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, qualified in seventh place in his #4 Ford.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones, two playoff drivers who were eliminated following the round of 16, were the highest qualifying non-round of 8 drivers for this race. They qualified in eighth and ninth place in their #1 Chevrolet and #20 Toyota, respectively.

The one round of 8 driver who failed to qualify in the top seven was Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney. He still qualified in a solid 10th place in his #12 Ford.

Here are the full qualifying results for the 2019 Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway.

NOTE: Round of 8 playoff driver are listed in italics.

Qualifying Results
1st – Kyle Busch
2nd – Joey Logano
3rd – Denny Hamlin
4th – Martin Truex Jr.
5th – Kyle Larson
6th – Chase Elliott
7th – Kevin Harvick
8th – Kurt Busch
9th – Erik Jones
10th – Ryan Blaney
11th – Aric Almirola
12th – Brad Keselowski
13th – Clint Bowyer
14th – Alex Bowman
15th – Daniel Suarez
16th – Matt DiBenedetto
17th – Chris Buescher
18th – William Byron
19th – Paul Menard
20th – Ryan Newman
21st – Michael McDowell
22nd – Jimmie Johnson
23rd – Darrell Wallace Jr.
24th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
25th – Ryan Preece
26th – John Hunter Nemechek
27th – Daniel Hemric
28th – Austin Dillon
29th – Ty Dillon
30th – David Ragan
31st – Corey LaJoie
32nd – Ross Chastain
33rd – Landon Cassill
34th – Bayley Currey
35th – Garrett Smithley
36th – Joe Nemechek
37th – Reed Sorenson
38th – Joey Gase
39th – J.J. Yeley

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The 2019 NASCAR Cup Series round of 8 finale, the Bluegreen Vacations 500, is scheduled to take place tomorrow afternoon, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC from ISM Raceway beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.

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