He put himself in great position to get a win Sunday, though, as he won the pole Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was Busch’s 30th career Cup Series pole.
“It was pure talent all the way around, all these guys, this whole team,” the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points leader joked to Fox Sports 1 after his run (a reference to his recent harsh criticism of his pit crew). “It feels good, this is a race that you always enjoy coming to in Charlotte, I haven’t won here in a points-paying event I guess, so it would certainly be nice to kind of get that done here this weekend with the 600.”
COCA-COLA 600: Odds, fantasy advice, sleepers
Two other drivers who have had great success at this race didn’t have a strong qualifying.
Kevin Harvick, who is going for his third win a row for the second time this season, failed inspection and will start in the back as a result. Martin Truex Jr., who has finished in the top five in each of his last three trips to Charlotte, will start 15th.
Worse for Harvick, his car chief, Robert Smith, was ejected from the race track for the weekend. Harvick also will lose 30 minutes of practice time in Happy Hour on Saturday. Harvick is attempting to win three straight points races for the second time this season.
Joey Logano, who qualified second behind Busch, is glad “The Closer” is starting from the rear.
“Are we taking bets on how long it takes to him to get up there?” Logano quipped.
The Coca-Cola 600 will start at 6 p.m. ET Sunday on Fox.
Material from the NASCAR Wire Service was used in this report.
Starting lineup for the Coca-Cola 600
- Kyle Busch 2. Joey Logano 3. Denny Hamlin 4. Erik Jones 5. Brad Keselowski 6. Ryan Newman 7. Jamie McMurray 8. Ryan Blaney 9. Aric Almirola 10. Daniel Suarez 11. Kyle Larson 12. Austin Dillon 13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 14. Paul Menard 15. Martin Truex Jr. 16. Kurt Busch 17. Matt Kenseth 18. Chris Buescher 19. David Ragan 20. Ty Dillon 21. William Byron 22. Chase Elliott 23. Jimmie Johnson 24. Darrell Wallace Jr. 25. Ross Chastain 26. Kasey Kahne 27. Alex Bowman 28. Clint Bowyer 29. Michael McDowell 30. AJ Allmendinger 31. Matt DiBenedetto 32. Parker Kligerman 33. Corey Lajoie 34. Gray Gaulding 35. Landon Cassill 36. Timmy Hill 37. Jeffrey Earnhardt 38. B.J. Mcleod 39. Kevin Harvick 40. J.J. Yeley
