NASCAR: Charlotte starting lineup – Kurt Busch takes pole

Kurt Busch took the pole position for the seventh race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Kurt Busch took his first NASCAR Cup Series pole position since October of 2018 at Talladega Superspeedway for this evening’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the seventh of 36 races on the 2020 schedule.

Busch took the pole position for this 400-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Concord, North Carolina by recording a top lap time of 29.790 seconds (181.269 miles per hour) in his #1 Chevrolet in the single-car qualifying session.

This pole position is the 28th of his career and his first driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, the fifth team for which the 21-year veteran has taken a pole position.

The 41-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native led a top six Chevrolet sweep of this qualifying session. Set to start alongside Busch is Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson in second place in his #48 Chevrolet. Johnson finished just 0.009 seconds (0.055 miles per hour) behind Busch on the speed chart in this qualifying session.

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Set to share the second row are one of Johnson’s teammates and Busch’s teammate, Chase Elliott and Matt Kenseth. They are set to start in third and fourth place in their #9 Chevrolet and #42 Chevrolet, respectively.

Set to share the third row are Richard Childress Racing teammates Tyler Reddick, a rookie, and Austin Dillon in fifth and sixth place in their #8 Chevrolet and #3 Chevrolet, respectively.

The highest qualifying Ford driver was Team Penske’s Joey Logano, who qualified in seventh place in his #22 Ford. He is set to start the race alongside the highest qualifying Toyota driver, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., in eighth in his #19 Toyota.

Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron are set to round out the top 10 on the fifth row in ninth and 10th place in their #2 Ford and #24 Chevrolet, respectively.

Here is the full starting lineup for the 2020 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Starting lineup
1st – Kurt Busch
2nd – Jimmie Johnson
3rd – Chase Elliott
4th – Matt Kenseth
5th – Tyler Reddick
6th – Austin Dillon
7th – Joey Logano
8th – Martin Truex Jr.
9th – Brad Keselowski
10th – William Byron
11th – Kyle Busch
12th – Alex Bowman
13th – Denny Hamlin
14th – Erik Jones
15th – Christopher Bell
16th – Ty Dillon
17th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
18th – Ryan Newman
19th – Chris Buescher
20th – Clint Bowyer
21st – Ross Chastain
22nd – Kevin Harvick
23rd – Bubba Wallace
24th – Corey LaJoie
25th – John Hunter Nemechek
26th – Ryan Blaney
27th – Michael McDowell
28th – Cole Custer
29th – Ryan Preece
30th – Quin Houff
31st – Gray Gaulding
32nd – Timmy Hill
33rd – Matt DiBenedetto
34th – J.J. Yeley
35th – Brennan Poole
36th – B.J. McLeod
37th – Daniel Suarez
38th – Garrett Smithley
39th – Joey Gase
40th – Aric Almirola

Make note of the fact that Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto is set to start the race from the rear of the field, as his #21 Ford sustained damage as a result of a crash during his qualifying run. That forced his team to move to a backup car.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola abandoned his qualifying run after spinning off of turn four and making slight contact with the wall while coming to the green flag.

Tune in to Fox at 6:00 p.m. ET this evening for the live broadcast of the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway.