Kyle Busch will be on the pole tonight for the first Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway. It is the first time the two-time Cup winner this season has qualified as polesitter in 2011.
Joining Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on the front row is Juan Pablo Montoya, who drives the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, owned by Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing. Kansas City-area driver Carl Edwards, from Columbia, Mo., will start seventh in tonight’s Quaker State 400 starting grid.
Two other local drivers, Clint Bowyer from Emporia and Jamie McMurray, who grew up in Joplin, Mo., qualified 20th and 34th, respectively, in the 43-car field.
Edwards has won two previous NASCAR races at Kentucky Speedway: a Camping World Series event in 2003 and a Nationwide race in 2005.