Stewart to make 400th Cup start from the pole


Tony Stewart will make his 400th Sprint Cup start Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway from a position he hasn’t started from in 155 races – the pole.

Stewart captured the top starting spot with a lap of 191.327 mph, 28.224 seconds during Friday’s qualifying session for the Samsung Mobile 500. This is his 11th Sprint Cup career pole. His last pole came in September 2005 at Martinsville. Sunday will mark Stewart’s fourth top-10 start in 2010.

Sam Hornish Jr. was second-quickest with a lap of 191.232 mph, 28.238 seconds and claimed the outside pole, his best qualifying effort. This is his third top-10 start this year. He qualified third last weekend at Phoenix.

Stewart and Hornish were the only two drivers to top 191 mph during Friday’s qualifying.

Reed Sorenson will make his first Cup start of the season for Braun Racing. The former Richard Petty Motorsports driver lost his ride after the 2009 season due to a merger with Yates Racing and a lack of sponsorship for Sorenson’s No. 43 car.

The Samsung Mobile 500 will be broadcast Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX. Green flag is scheduled for 3:16 p.m. ET.

Starting lineup:

1 Tony Stewart
2 Sam Hornish Jr.
3 Greg Biffle
4 Jimmie Johnson
5 Kasey Kahne
6 Jeff Burton
7 Kyle Busch
8 Clint Bowyer
9 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
10 Ryan Newman
11 Kurt Busch
12 Jeff Gordon
13 David Ragan
14 Martin Truex Jr.
15 Jamie McMurray
16 David Reutimann
17 A.J. Allmendinger
18 Joey Logano
19 Kevin Harvick
20 Carl Edwards
21 Juan Montoya
22 Joe Nemechek
23 Scott Speed
24 Dave Blaney
25 Paul Menard
26 Regan Smith
27 Max Papis
28 Matt Kenseth
29 Denny Hamlin
30 Mark Martin
31 David Gilliland
32 Marcos Ambrose
33 Michael McDowell
34 Mike Bliss
35 Travis Kvapil
36 Bill Elliott
37 Brad Keselowski
38 Robby Gordon
39 Elliott Sadler
40 Kevin Conway*
41 Bobby Labonte
42 Brian Vickers+
43 Reed Sorenson

Did Not Qualify:
David Stremme
Terry Cook*
Johnny Sauter

*Rookie
+Owner points

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Stewart to make 400th Cup start from the pole Stewart to make 400th Cup start from the pole Reviewed by Admin on Friday, April 16, 2010 Rating: 5