Ryan Blaney fires off fastest lap for AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway

credit: Lisa Janine Cloud /Skirts and Scuffs
by Lisa Janine Cloud

Ryan Blaney put his Team Penske No. 12 Accella/Carlisle Ford on the pole for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway with a blistering 200.505 mph lap, just a touch under Kurt Busch’s record of 200.915 mph set in 2017 and just .3 seconds faster than second-place qualifier Clint Bowyer.

Blaney was happy to have won the pole but wanted to break the record.

“I would have liked to gone 201 mph to be honest with you. I mean, it is super fast, that is a product of it being night time and a little colder outside and a good handling race car,” Blaney explained. “Honestly, we go to a lot of tracks now that are pretty close like Michigan where you go faster than that. Here it is super fast today. It doesn't really feel like it, you are just trying your best to hit your line. You won’t see much of that stuff next year, so enjoy it now.”

credit: Lisa Janine Cloud for Skirts and Scuffs
Blaney could not hide his excitement over the pole award Henry Repeating Arms Big Boy lever action rifle, which perhaps made up for not setting a new track record.

While the pole was his first at the Great American Speedway, Blaney has two others in the 2018 season and five total in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.   

Stewart Haas teammates Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola roll off in third and fourth, respectively, with the No 2 Wurth Ford of Brad Keselowski rounding out the top five.

Not only was William Byron the fastest-qualifying rookie, but he was the fastest Chevy. Byron was the only bow-tie to break into the final round of time trials.  

Tune in to NBCSN Sunday at 2 p.m. Central Time (after turning your clocks back an hour) to see who how things turn out!
Your AAA Texas 500 starting lineup:
Pos.   Driver 

1 Ryan Blaney
2 Clint Bowyer
3 Kevin Harvick
4 Aric Almirola
5 Brad Keselowski
6 Denny Hamlin
7 Kurt Busch
8 Joey Logano
9 William Byron
10 Kyle Busch
11 Paul Menard
12 Erik Jones
13 Martin Truex, Jr.
14 Ryan Newman
15 Trevor Bayne
16 Chase Elliott
17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
18 Alex Bowman
19 Daniel Suarez
20 Jamie McMurray
21 Chris Buescher
22 Kyle Larson
23 Jimmie Johnson
24 Ty Dillon
25 A.J. Allmendinger
26 Austin Dillon
27 David Ragan
28 Regan Smith
29 Michael McDowell
30 Bubba Wallace
31 Matt DiBenedetto
32 Landon Cassill
33 Ross Chastain
34 Parker Kligerman
35 J.J. Yeley
36 Kyle Weatherman
37 Corey LaJoie
38 Reed Sorenson
39 Joey Gase
40 David Starr
41 Timmy Hill
Ryan Blaney fires off fastest lap for AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway Ryan Blaney fires off fastest lap for AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway Reviewed by Janine Cloud on Friday, November 02, 2018 Rating: 5