The driver and pit crew might be different but the winning sponsor and car number from the 2010 Coca-Cola 600 are on the pole for Sunday's edition of NASCAR's longest race.
Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge) streaked to his first pole of the 2011 season, turning a lap of 28.112 seconds in Thursday's qualifying session. A.J. Allmendinger, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, and two-time Coca-Cola 600 winner Jeff Burton round out the top-five.
The top-10 is filled out by Jimmie Johnson, David Reutimann, Georgia's David Ragan, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Clint Bowyer. Stenhouse, who races full-time for Roush-Fenway Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, is making his Sprint Cup debut behind the wheel of the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford. The Woods' regular driver, Trevor Bayne, is slated to hopefully return from an illness that has sidelined him since late April in next week's Nationwide race at Chicagoland Speedway.
Defending Coca-Cola 600 winner Kurt Busch, now driving Penske's No. 22 Dodge with the same crew he took to victory lane last year, qualified a dismal 26th. He started outside the front row in last year's victory.
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