NCWTS Pole Report: Nelson Piquet Jr. starts first in Pocono Mountains 125

Nelson Piquet Jr. stole the Keystone Light pole for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Pocono Mountains 125 with a new track qualifying record of 169.504 mph (53.096 seconds).

Rounding out the top five were Ty Dillon, Miguel Paludo, Joey Coulter and James Buescher. 

Piquet Jr., driver of the No. 30 AutoTrac Chevy led yesterday’s practice with a lap time of 53.688 (167.635 mph). The driver has yet to earn a win this season, but has three top fives and six top 10s. He finished 14th in the series’ last visit to Pocono. 

Driving the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevy, Dillon will start alongside Piquet Jr. Dillon currently has two top fives and nine top-10 finishes this season. This is Dillon’s ninth top-10 start of 2012 and first run at Pocono in the Truck Series.

During a Friday press conference at Pocono Raceway, Dillon talked about running for the first time on the repaved surface. “I heard there is a lot more grip since the repave at Pocono (Raceway),” Dillon said. “My brother, Austin, went there for a Goodyear tire test and said the track was really fast. I’m excited to get there and see what it’s like to race on the new surface. I had a lot of fun there last year and earned   a win in the ARCA Racing Series.”

Series points leader Timothy Peters will start eighth.Truck Series “visitor” Denny Hamlin will start from the 16^th position. Sean Corr and Kyle Martel who will both make their series debut will start 30^th and 32^nd respectively. 

Starting Lineup for Pocono Mountains 125:

1. Nelson Piquet Jr.
2. Ty Dillon
3. Miguel Paludo
4. Joey Coulter
5. James Buescher
6. Timothy George Jr.
7. Paulie Harraka
8. Timothy Peters
9. Matt Crafton
10. Ron Hornaday Jr.
11. John Wes Townley
12. Todd Bodine
13. Johnny Sauter
14. Jason White
15. Cale Gale
16. Denny Hamlin
17. Parker Kligerman
18. Dakoda Armstrong
19. Bryan Silas
20. Ross Chastain
21. Dennis Setzer
22. Jeff Agnew
23. Chris Fontaine
24. Jennifer Jo Cobb
25. C.E. Falk
26. Ryan Sieg
27. Wes Burton
28. Chris Jones
29. Scott Riggs
30. Sean Corr
31. Brandon Knupp
32. Kyle Martel
33. Chris Lafferty
34. Norm Benning
35. Justin Lofton
36. Adam Edwards

Television: The Pocono Mountains 125 will be broadcast at 12:30 p.m. EST on SPEED.