Kyle Busch stays hot at Indy by taking Brickyard 400 pole

When the Sprint Cup series raced at the Brickyard a year ago, it was with an experimental high-drag package with a large spoiler, a configuration that was not incorporated into the 2016 rules.

The Sprint Cup Series moves to the brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, and the big news is that Hendrick Motorsports will welcome back Jeff Gordon ($8,800).

Busch’s teammate Carl Edwards will start on the outside of the front row and Denny Hamlin put the third Gibbs Toyota in the fourth starting position. He will be joining fellow Hoosier Tony Stewart, who is retiring after this season.

It’s his first time back in the vehicle since last year’s Cup championship race at Homestead, but his return could have come earlier.

Indy is a track with special meaning.

“I’m probably more prepared for a Brickyard than I’ve been any other year”, Stewart said.

Bunnell, wearing a No. 88 cap and green No. 88 shirt, said he would not have come to the race if a friend hadn’t already gotten him a garage pass. When Earnhardt sat out last week’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Bunnell refused to watch.

“We’re months in, and I feel like all the drivers have expressed where we could be stronger and what we might need”, said Johnson, who has won four times at Indy and will roll off the starting grid in 13 Sunday.

“It would be all right, I guess”, Stewart joked. Gordon’s best lap of the day, 184.543, was good enough to reach the second round of qualifying. But at the speedway, he’ll be up to speed in a much shorter amount of time, I think.

Kyle Busch (18) heads into the first turn during the NASCAR Xfinity auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, July 23, 2016. Economically it makes sense for us, it makes sense for this community and it makes sense for NASCAR. “In my mind…it is just another race and it’s another weekend here at Indy”. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.

The four-time Cup champion, who is coming out of retirement to fill in for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. the next two weekends, kept the door open to running more races if Earnhardt needs more time to recover from concussion-like symptoms. He will start 21st. “The vehicle was a little bit tight”. “We had a couple of good restarts and wound up second”. But he immediately knew he would make the 11-hour drive when Hendrick made its announcement. “I asked what he was talking about and he started to tell me about what was going on. The personal side is fine, but, and I don’t mean to be cold about it, but the business side the first responsibility is to the team”. “On the restarts, the second-to-last one was really good”.

“I know you might not think so, but we are addicted. I look forward to the challenge tomorrow”. He’s finished in the top-5 five times this year with four second-place finishes. (183.012 mph) and Danica Patrick (182.912 mph). Matt Kenseth ($9,600), fresh off his win at New Hampshire, is looking for his first-ever win at Indy.

Kyle Larson ($8,600) isn’t as great a value anymore, as his DFS salary continues to creep up due to good results on track. Jimmie Johnson has offered me his cool vest. Chase Elliott will start 15th and Kasey Kahne qualified 26th.

Gordon is one of the best drivers at the famous track.