Kyle Busch won his first career pole at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Friday with a lap in his Toyota at 129.535 mph, breaking Ryan Newman’s 10-year-old track record of 128.709.
Busch shredded the mark set by Newman, who had been the first driver to go under 15 seconds when he set the lap record. Busch was one of nine drivers to go under 15 seconds in qualifying and his time of 14.813 is the new record.Kasey Kahne qualified second in a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports with a lap at 128.995 and felt like he had a shot at beating Busch’s mark. Denny Hamlin was third at 128.960.Hamlin still miffedDenny Hamlin said that he believes NASCAR was disrespectful by not contacting him before fining him $25,000 over critical comments about the new race car. Hamlin said a bigger name would have at least gotten a courtesy call.“That was the biggest complaint I had. If I was Jeff Gordon or Tony [Stewart], Dale [Earnhardt] Jr., or any Hendrick driver, they would have had a conversation before,” Hamlin said. “Just to slap the fine on me and not tell me anything is what really, really bugged me.”Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
