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Stewart-Haas Racing driver paces both sessions at Charlotte

RELATED: Final practice results | See all 43 cars at Charlotte

Kurt Busch topped final practice for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM) at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch led the 50-minute session with a fast lap of 188.653 mph. The driver of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet also topped Saturday’s earlier practice session.

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Kasey Kahne placed second in the session at a speed of 187.052 mph. The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has four wins at Charlotte with three coming in the Coca-Cola 600.

Paul Menard (186.987 mph) was third, followed by Greg Biffle (186.942 mph) and polesitter Matt Kenseth (186.780 mph) rounded out the top five.

MORE: Kenseth starts on pole 

Erik Jones spent the latter half of final practice logging laps in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Jones will be on standby for Kyle Busch on Sunday night in case he can’t go the full distance. Busch is making his first points-paying start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since suffering a compound fracture of the right leg and a broken left foot in a crash in the NASCAR XFINITY Series opener at Daytona International Speedway in February. Jones made his Sprint Cup debut at Kansas Speedway two weeks ago; he also logged laps in relief of Denny Hamlin at Bristol Motor Speedway in April. The No. 18 Toyota was 17th in final practice.

The standby plan was mentioned on Jones’ Twitter feed.

Sunday’s 600-miler is the longest race of the season in the Sprint Cup Series.

Second practice | RELATED: Practice 2 results

Kurt Busch topped the first of Saturday’s two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice sessions at Charlotte Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).

Busch paced the 55-minute practice session with a fast lap of 192.644 mph. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has just one win at Charlotte, a Coca-Cola 600 victory in 2010.

Polesitter Matt Kenseth placed second in the session with a fast lap of 191.680 mph. Kenseth’s first premier series win came in this race in 2000.

Jimmie Johnson (190.813 mph) came in third, followed by David Ragan (190.550 mph) with Brad Keselowski (190.496 mph) rounding out the top five.

Johnson is the defending race winner and has seven career wins at Charlotte, the most all-time. All three of Johnson’s wins this season have come on intermediate tracks.

Ragan went for a spin off Turn 4 late in practice, making no contact with the wall but going through the grass. The driver of the No. 55 Toyota suffered no real damage to the car and is set to start seventh in Sunday’s race.

Kyle Busch, who will be making his first points-paying Sprint Cup Series start of the season, finished the session sixth.

Points leader Kevin Harvick, who has finished in the top two in all four races at intermediate tracks, placed 30th on the chart.

AJ Allmendinger had his share of issues during the practice. The driver of the No. 47 appeared to scrape the wall and was fighting a loose car during the session in which he placed 33rd.

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See what drivers we are picking to take the checkered flag

Members of the NASCAR.com editorial team make their predictions for the longest race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, the Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).

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Zack Albert

Kurt Busch: Last season, Busch had designs on a 1,100-mile Memorial Day Sunday by splitting time between Indiana and North Carolina — a double play that few have dared to try. This year, Busch’s singular focus on the Coca-Cola 600, plus the ever-improving performance of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 camp, should have Busch celebrating at the end of NASCAR’s longest race.

Kenny Bruce

Kevin Harvick: Jimmie Johnson has been a beast on the 1.5-mile tracks this year, winning three of four. But Harvick has finished no worse than second in all four (he won at Las Vegas), with another runner-up in last Saturday night’s non-points Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte. "I still think he’s the car to beat right now," Johnson said of the Stewart-Haas Racing driver at Kansas.

Holly Cain

Jimmie Johnson: Johnson is always a favorite at Charlotte, where he is the all-time best (seven wins). With a series-high three wins this season, he’s carrying Championship No. 7 momentum into the Coca-Cola 600. He won this race from the pole last May. Easy pick here.

Pat DeCola

Brad Keselowski: The 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion’s past history at Charlotte Motor Speedway isn’t exceptional and his only win there came in the Chase — while he was out of it. Combine that with the heartbreak of narrowly missing out on his first Sprint All-Star Race victory last weekend — he led a race-high 49 laps — and Keselowski’s propensity for conquering mile-and-a-halves as a whole, and it makes for a recipe in which the tenacious driver crosses one of NASCAR’s landmark races off his bucket list.

Stu Hothem

Kasey Kahne: One of only three drivers with a driver rating better than 100 at Charlotte, Kahne will join one of the others, Jimmie Johnson, as a four-time winner of NASCAR’s longest event and punch his ticket to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

RJ Kraft

Jeff Gordon: His first premier series win came in this race in 1994. The four-time champion has been making steady gains since a slow start to the 2015 season and will pick up his first win of his final full-time season back where the winning began.

Brad Norman

Kevin Harvick: No one has been more dominant on intermediate tracks than the No. 4 team this year, and that group showed plenty of speed in practice and qualifying. Throw in Hendrick horsepower, and "Happy" looks poised to win his third Coca-Cola 600 in the past five years.

Jessica Ruffin

Jimmie Johnson: Johnson has been unflappable at intermediate tracks this season, winning three of the four races at 1.5-mile venues. The reigning Coca-Cola 600 champion, Johnson is also the all-time winner at Charlotte with seven victories and has led the most laps (1,733) around the North Carolina oval among active drivers. Couple Johnson’s 2015 success with his expertise at Charlotte, and you’ve got a recipe for victory this weekend in NASCAR’s longest race.

Kathy Sheldon

Matt Kenseth: It’s an endurance race, and the No. 20 has completed all but one of the laps run this season. Plus, Kenseth has a win in the 600, though it came in 2000. He last won at Charlotte four years ago but with one win and six top-10s through the first 11 points races this season, Kenseth can tap the Joe Gibbs Racing speed (he will start from the pole) for another win at Charlotte.

George Winkler

Joey Logano: Logano’s average finish of 10.0 at Charlotte is tops among active drivers, and a qualifying spot on the front row indicates he’s ready to add the second crown jewel to his collection by winning the Coca-Cola 600 in the same year as the Daytona 500.

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Get caught up before Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX)

MORE: NASCAR.com’s picks for Charlotte | See all 43 cars for Charlotte

What: 56th Annual Coca-Cola 600
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C.
When: Sunday, May 23, 2015
TV/Radio: FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR)
Distance: 400 laps (600 miles)
Green Flag: 6:18.30 p.m. ET
Pit Road Speed: 45 mph
Caution Car Speed: 55 mph
Competition Caution: Lap 25

On The Front Row | Complete lineup for Sunday’s race
1. Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota (194.252 mph)
2. Joey Logano, Team Penske No. 22 Ford (192.836 mph)

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Failed to Qualify
Jeb Burton, BK Racing No. 26 Toyota; Mike Bliss, Go FAS Racing No. 32 Ford; Travis Kvapil, Hillman SmithMotorsports No. 39 Chevrolet; Jeff Green, TMG No. 30 Chevrolet; Brendan Gaughan, Premium Motorsports No. 62 Chevrolet

Fastest In Practice
First Practice: Carl Edwards, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota (192.273 mph) | Full practice results
Second Practice: Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet (192.644 mph) | Full practice results
Third Practice: Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet (188.653 mph) | Full practice results

Four Score?
Matt Kenseth will start from the pole for the 15th time in his career when the Coca-Cola 600 gets under way. On three occasions, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has managed to also win the race – at Bristol in 2005 and ’15 as well as Kansas in ’13. "Back when I started, we worked hard on qualifying but we worked way harder on the race (setup) because even if we started 20th, we knew if we had a really good car we could drive up to the front and after a couple of pit stops we’d be in the top few," Kenseth said. "That’s not necessarily the case today. You can start in the middle and you can be stuck in the middle all day sometimes. It’s hard to make up ground."

SHOP: Kenseth gear

No. 450 for Biffle, McMurray
Roush Fenway Racing‘s Greg Biffle and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates driver Jamie McMurray will be making their 450th career starts in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series in the Coca-Cola 600. Biffle’s first start came April 28, 2002 at Auto Club Speedway. He finished 13th. McMurray’s first start came later that same year, on October 6 at Talladega Superspeedway. Driving in a relief role for the injured Sterling Marlin, McMurray finished 26th.

Front Row Joe(y)
Team Penske driver Joey Logano qualified second for the Coca-Cola 600, his seventh front-row start in 12 races this year. Since the 2014 season and the move to group qualifying, Logano has earned 15 top-two starts.

SHOP: Logano gear

Shorten the 600?
"If they take that away or shorten it, it doesn’t have the same challenge because that extra 100 miles is really hard. It puts extra wear and tear on your parts, your pieces, and your driver. It makes you change your strategy. And … it’s something unique to our sport. … I like the challenge of that extra 100 miles once a year. I wouldn’t want to do it twice a year." – former championship winning crew chief Ray Evernham

Third Cup Start for Elliott
Defending XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott will be making his third Sprint Cup Series start this weekend, qualifying the Hendrick Motorsports No. 25 Chevrolet 28th in the 43-car field. Elliott, the son of 1988 Sprint Cup champ and NASCAR Hall of Fame member Bill Elliott, finished 38th in his Sprint Cup debut earlier this year at Martinsville and 16th at Richmond.

Driver Rating
Best driver rating average at Charlotte based on past 20 races:
Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet (111.6)
Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota (106.7)
Kasey Kahne, Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet (100.8)

GALLERY: Check out the Memorial Day weekend patriotic paint schemes

Chevy Stumble?
For the first time this season, no Chevrolet drivers qualified in the top five. Points leader Kevin Harvick, in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet, led the GM charge and will start eighth.

Lap Leaders
Jim Paschal holds the record for most laps led by the winner in the Coca-Cola 600, leading 335 of 400 en route to his victory at Charlotte in 1967 (it was then called the World 600). Race winner Jimmie Johnson led 334 of 400 in ’04. The driver leading the most laps in the 600 and NOT winning the race is Junior Johnson, who led 289 in the ’63 event but finished second to Fred Lorenzen after suffering a flat tire with fewer than five laps remaining.

Defending Coca-Cola 600 Champion
Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet

Former Charlotte Winners In Field
Jimmie Johnson (7); Jeff Gordon (5); Kasey Kahne (4); Kevin Harvick (3); Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray (2); Casey Mears, Tony Stewart, Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch (1).

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Four drivers and fans have chances to win $100,000

MORE: How Dash 4 Cash works; enter now!

CONCORD, N.C. — Regan Smith said he didn’t realize until Friday that Saturday’s Hisense 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway was the qualifier for the NASCAR XFINITY Series’ Dash 4 Cash Sweepstakes.

But on Saturday in the driver’s meeting he tapped Jason Burdett, crew chief of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, on the shoulder and said, "Hey, you know this is the Dash 4 Cash race and we need to be good today."

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The No. 7 remained steady and in the top 10 for the majority of the race, but what made Saturday good was a late pit stop that propelled Smith to a fourth-place finish, his best at Charlotte.

Smith led a group of Dash 4 Cash qualifiers that included Darrell Wallace Jr. (fifth place), Daniel Suarez (sixth) and Ty Dillon (seventh) in a race won by Austin Dillon.

The best finisher among the four in next week’s Buckle Up presented by Click it or Ticket 200
at Dover International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX) will take home $100,000 and advance to the next round of the Dash 4 Cash.

For Wallace, the fifth-place finish at Charlotte was a career best in his young XFINITY Series career and came on the heels of a sixth-place showing at Iowa. Wallace also finished sixth at Texas earlier this season, and the driver of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford said he’s building some momentum.

"This is a confidence booster for all of my guys," Wallace said. "We just have to clean up ourselves on pit road. That’s been a struggle for us these last couple races, but we’ve been able to manage a couple spots on restarts and come away with our first top-five in the series. … This is where we need to be. We’re setting up ship for late in the season."

As for the immediate future, Wallace said he needed to learn how to translate qualifying success at Dover International Speedway into a race win. In 2012, Wallace won the pole in the fall XFINITY race at Dover only to finish 12th. He also won a pole there in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the spring of 2013 but finished 10th.

"Dover has been a very successful track for me," Wallace said. "It would be nice if (the Dash 4 Cash) paid for the pole there because I’m pretty good at qualifying there. I haven’t got the finishes I wanted, but I’m excited to be in the XFINITY Series and part of the Dash 4 Cash Series, so I’m glad to be one of the four."

Wallace and fellow rookie Suarez will mix it up with Smith and Dillon, who are veterans of the Dash 4 Cash battles — with Dillon winning a Dash 4 Cash race last year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition to Dover and Indianapolis, the Dash 4 Cash will take place at Bristol Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway this year.

Suarez, who qualified 19th for Saturday’s race in Charlotte, charged through the field early and maintained a top-10 position for the second half of the race. Suarez’s sixth-place finish in his first race at CMS was his fourth top 10 of the season.

"We had a hard time in qualifying — maybe one of my worst qualifying runs of the year at 19th," Suarez said. "All these guys, they don’t know how to give up and that’s something that is really good, and I’m learning to be just like that as well."

And like Smith, Suarez was pleasantly surprised that Saturday marked the beginning of the Dash 4 Cash.

"That’s cool and something new actually," Suarez said. "I saw the Dash 4 Cash, and I don’t know exactly how it works or anything, but I’m really proud to be part of this and something new for me."

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Claire B. Lang’s “Dialed In – Salute to the Troops” airs Sunday, May 24

NEW YORK – May 20, 2015 – SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90, will broadcast a special program in tribute to the men and women of the United States Military.  Dialed In – Salute to the Troops, hosted by Claire B. Lang, will air this Sunday, May 24 (1:00-3:00 pm ET), live from Charlotte Motor Speedway in advance of the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race

The special will feature several of NASCAR’s star drivers sharing their appreciation for the men and women of America’s Armed Forces, as well as interviews with servicemen and women from various branches of the military who will be in Charlotte for the race.
 
Last year’s special featured interviews with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Danica Patrick, Medal of Honor recipients Sgt. Major Robert Paterson and Sgt. Dakota Meyer, along with many other drivers and military members.
 
Additionally, on Monday, May 25, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone, hosts of The Morning Drive (weekdays, 7:00-11:00 am ET), will dedicate much of their show to honoring our servicemen and women.  They will encourage their listeners to call in to the show or to tweet with the hashtag #TMDTroops to celebrate current and former military members, and to memorialize those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.
 
SiriusXM NASCAR Radio is available to listeners nationwide on channel 90 on satellite radios, on the SiriusXM app and online at SiriusXM.com.
 
The Dialed In – Salute to the Troops special and other SiriusXM NASCAR Radio programming will also be made available on inactive SiriusXM radios as part of SiriusXM’s free listening preview program, which is running now through June 1. (Some older Sirius satellite radios may not be capable of receiving the free listening preview channels.)
 
For more info visit www.siriusxm.com/nascar.  Follow the channel on Twitter @SiriusXMNASCAR.

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Jones, Reddick chasing two-time defending champ in standings

Five races into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, the cream is still on top.

Matt Crafton’s third-place finish last Friday in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway allowed the series points leader to maintain his top spot.

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Crafton, driving the No. 88 for ThorSport Racing, now has 217 points on the strength of two wins, four top fives and a series-best five top-10 finishes. The 38-year-old Crafton is trying to three-peat as the Camping World Truck Series points champion.

Crafton has 343 Trucks races under his fire suit, starting with the Motorola 200 at Fontana back in 2000. His first-ever win was the 2008 edition of the North Carolina Education Lottery. He has a modest seven career wins, but consistency works in his favor. He’s placed among the top 10 in his Trucks races 57.4 percent of the time (197 out of 343).

Erik Jones’ epic battle with Kasey Kahne, which included side-by-side racing for most of the final lap and a photo finish, is the type of excitement NASCAR officials — and fans — want to see. Kahne won the race by 0.005 (that’s not a typo) of a second. The No. 00 Truck failed the post-race inspection for a ride-height violation. Kahne does, however, get to keep the win.

Driving the No. 4 for Kyle Busch Motorsports, Jones led 88 of the 139 laps at Charlotte. Jones, who turns 19 on May 30, ranks second in the points standings. He finished 18th last year.

Just two points behind Jones in the standings sits Tyler Reddick, who picked up his fourth top-five finish of the year by placing fourth last week. Driving the No. 19 Truck for Brad Keselowski Racing, Reddick already has one more top-five finish than he had in 16 starts as a rookie in 2014. The 19-year-old placed 12th in the standings last year.

More than a decade removed from his rookie season in a NASCAR national series, Johnny Sauter is chasing his first-ever Truck Series title. Sauter, who turned 37 earlier this month, ranks fourth in the current standings. His best season was a second-place finish in 2011, and he placed fourth in the standings the past two years.

John Wes Townley moved into the top five with a sixth-place finish at Charlotte. Townley doesn’t have a win in his 74 career starts on the circuit. He was 15th in the final 2014 standings, and his best year was an 11th-place showing in 2013.

Up next for the Camping World Truck Series is the Lucas Oil 200 at Dover International Speedway on May 29 (5:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).

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Our experts debate whether a classic race is due for change

The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It’s historic, it’s grueling … it’s long.
 
But is it too long? Does the distance of NASCAR’s longest race need to be shortened — and if so, by how much?
 
Join NASCAR.com’s Brad Norman and George Winkler in this debate, and chime in below in the comments section.

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Norman: It’s an interesting topic, George. There’s no question that businesses must continually innovate and improve, and in that regard, NASCAR must ask itself the very question we are debating. Is the Coca-Cola 600 too long? But — and this is hard to do — organizations must also balance that continual improvement with the need to preserve not only what works, but foundations on which the organizational structure is built upon. The May race at Charlotte has always been 600 miles, and it should always be 600 miles.
 
Winkler: Brad, it’s tough for me to go against tradition. I mean, you’re talking to a guy who waited to find out whether his children would be girls or boys, so I totally respect what it means to stick with the old-school way of doing things. But the times are changing and sports are reacting accordingly. Recently, college basketball proposed a 30-second shot clock and fewer timeouts. Meanwhile, baseball tested a pitch clock in an effort to shorten their games and appease fans. Why should NASCAR be any different?
 
Norman: I think that’s a great point, George, and one with which I agree. NASCAR should take a serious look into speeding up the pace of the race, so to speak, especially if there’s a fan outcry for it. But why does it have to be the Coca-Cola 600? NASCAR could look into shortening races at, say, Atlanta or Texas or any other number of places, but the 600 is, at least to me, on a holier ground. There’s a reason Dale Earnhardt Jr. still tweets using the #World600 hashtag, which is what the race was previously called. It means something special to the drivers, and to the sport. Let it stay just like it is, a unique, once-a-year event that’s been a part of the sport since 1960.
 
Winkler: For the drivers, the 600 is an excellent test of man vs. machine. But when I take my kids to a sporting event these days it’s man vs. machine all right, the handheld machines that sap their attention span. I’m lucky if I can get them through two hours before they’re asking to go home, and I think a lot of parents probably share in my pain. So you end up paying big money and don’t get to see a complete event. And since kids’ interest level is the lifeblood of any sport, I’d be cool with a Coca-Cola 500 or 400.
 
Norman: Isn’t there something to be said for history and kids, though? Teaching them the value of the past, and explaining the emphasis on man vs. machine and what it meant in 1960 vs. what it means now, all these years later. There’s also something so special about starting one of the most historic NASCAR races ever at one of the most iconic venues ever under a gently setting sun, after a sensational tribute to the troops … then seeing the track change, the sparks fly, the lights come on. It’s a wondrous thing, if I can get a little poetic. No other track or event can provide all of those facets. As for your kids being on their devices — and thankfully, I’m not there with mine just yet — one word for you George: RaceView.

Winkler: Ha, ha, way to sneak the RaceView plug in there, pal. But my kids are at least another two years from being able to appreciate the intricacies of RaceView — in other words roughly the time it will take to complete another Coca-Cola 600 (wink, wink).

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Future seven-time champ finished 22nd in sport’s longest race 40 years ago

Dale Earnhardt wasn’t a NASCAR legend in 1975. He hadn’t earned the nickname "The Intimidator," won a Cup championship or even driven the iconic black No. 3 ride. 

Forty years ago, the man who would one day hoist seven Cup championship trophies was just a racer from Kannapolis, North Carolina, trying to compete in NASCAR’s premier series.

•   •   •

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Earnhardt strapped into his pale blue and yellow No. 8 Dodge for his first start in NASCAR’s premier series on May 25, 1975 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The task that lay ahead of the 24-year-old driver was a daunting one, as Earnhardt was getting set to compete in the World 600 — NASCAR’s longest race. Even for the most experienced wheelmen, the 600-mile event was a grueling mission.

Coming from the back, Earnhardt lined up 33rd for the drop of the green flag. Only seven cars stood between Earnhardt and the tail end of the field, but as NASCAR would one day discover, a little thing like qualifying position never stopped "The Intimidator."

In a race that spanned more than four hours, Earnhardt fought his way toward the front. He eventually finished a modest 22nd with the legendary Richard Petty taking the checkered that day. Earnhardt also finished one spot above someone who he would come to know very well one day — his future car owner Richard Childress.

•   •   •

A 22nd-place finish wasn’t something extraordinary. But for Earnhardt, it was the first spark in a blazing career that would forever change the world of NASCAR.

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Joey Logano will also start from the front row in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600

RELATED: Full starting lineup | See all 43 cars

CONCORD, N.C. – After powering to his second pole of the season on Thursday night, Matt Kenseth will start NASCAR’s longest race from the most advantageous position—with his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota getting serviced in the most advantageous pit stall.
 
Kenseth ran his fastest lap of the night (194.252 mph) in the third and final round of knockout qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway and secured the top spot on the grid for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM), the 12th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season.

The Coors Light Pole Award was Kenseth’s first at Charlotte and the 15th of his career. Kenseth, who covered the 1.5-mile distance in 27.799 seconds, was a whopping .204 seconds faster than Joey Logano (192.836 mph), whose No. 22 Team Penske Ford will start beside Kenseth’s Camry on the front row.
 
"I think starting up front is important at this track," Kenseth said. "It typically goes through a lot of changes here, especially if the sun is out for the beginning of the race. You want to have good track position, good pit selection—all those things—so if you get a little bit off and you’re chasing the setup, or the track changes, you have a little bit of a buffer being toward the front, hopefully…
 
"All the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas had some speed tonight, and that was encouraging."

SHOP: Kenseth gear
 
Carl Edwards (192.733 mph) was third in his No. 19 JGR Toyota, followed by Greg Biffle in his No. 16 Roush Fenway Ford (192.226 mph) and NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race winner Denny Hamlin in his No. 11 JGR Toyota (192.007 mph).
 
Surprisingly, in consecutive seasons that have seen domination of the intermediate speedways by the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet of reigning series champion Kevin Harvick and the No. 48 Chevy of six-time champ Jimmie Johnson, Toyotas and Fords claimed the top seven qualifying positions for the 600.
 
To Logano, however, the absence of a Chevrolet from the top five spots on the grid for the first time this season isn’t hugely significant.
 
"Those guys have been fast in the race—that’s where their speed really shines," Logano said. "They qualify good–don’t get me wrong—but in the race they shine a little bit more. You’re talking about the 4, the 41 (Kurt Busch) and the 48. Those are the ones that stand out.
 
"And I’m sure they’ll be fast when it comes to race time. Qualifying’s a different animal. You use a completely different setup, and qualifying can kind of mask over some issues you have in race trim a lot of times. … I wouldn’t (read) too much into it."
 
Notes: All four Hendrick Motorsports entries failed to advance to the final round of knockout qualifying, but Kasey Kahne had a valid excuse. A cut tire prevented him from posting a quick qualifying laps. As a result, the three-time winner of the Coca-Cola 600 will start 33rd on Sunday … Jeb Burton, Mike Bliss, Travis Kvapil, Jeff Green and Brendan Gaughan failed to make the 43-car field. The 48-car turnout for qualifying was the largest since 49 entries showed up for the season-opening Daytona 500.  

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Darrell Wallace Jr. topped the leaderboard in Thursday’s opening session

Final practice

RELATED: Final practice results

After posting the 10th-fastest speed in the opening practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Ty Dillon found a bit more momentum early in Thursday’s final session, shooting to the top of the leaderboard at 181.068 mph in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing ride.

Opening practice leader Darrell Wallace Jr. continued to post fast lap times, using a high speed of 181.020 mph in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford to snag the second spot on the leaderboard.

Dillon’s Richard Childress Racing teammate Brendan Gaughan also found speed in the final practice, his 180.995 mph-lap qualifying him for the third-fastest speed in the field.

The elder Dillon — Austin Dillon — had posted a top-five speed earlier in the day and continued his strong run in the final session with a high speed of 180.246 mph from his No. 33 Chevrolet to grab the fourth-fastest ranking.

Rounding out the top five was Ryan Blaney, whose No. 22 Team Penske Ford whirled around the 1.5-mile oval at 179.033 mph.

Sprint Cup Series veteran Kasey Kahne managed to find his way into the top 10 this session, recording a high speed of 177.288 mph in his No. 5 JR Motorsports ride to claim the sixth-fastest speed.

Current series champion Chase Elliott managed to maintain a top-10 speed, maneuvering his No. 9 JR Motorsports ride at 177.784 mph for the final spot in the top 10.

Coors Light Pole Qualifying is set for Saturday at 11:15 a.m. on FOX Sports 1.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

Practice 1

RELATED: Full practice 1 results

Turning his first laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a XFINITY Series car this weekend Darrell Wallace Jr. experienced a stroke of beginner’s luck on Thursday, soaring to the top of the leaderboard during opening practice for the Hisense 300 (Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM). The Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate propelled his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing ride at 180.536 mph around the 1.5-mile track early in the session to snag the top spot.

Just behind Wallace was Sprint Cup regular Austin Dillon, who posted a high speed of 180.469 mph in his No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Dillon also will compete in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).

Richard Childress Racing‘s Brian Scott (179.778 mph), current points leader and Roush Fenway Racing‘s Chris Buescher (179.772 mph) and Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Erik Jones (179.521 mph) completed the top five.

Reigning XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott showed plenty of momentum during opening practice, recording the seventh-fastest speed in the field (179.027 mph) in his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Like Dillon, Elliott is also performing a double-header this weekend, as he looks to make his third Sprint Cup start as a part-time rookie for Hendrick Motorsports.

The track was peppered with several Sprint Cup regulars during opening practice, all of whom will be competing in Saturday’s Hisense 300. The list included Kyle Larson (eighth-fastest), Denny Hamlin (ninth-fastest), 2014 Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick (13th-fastest), Kasey Kahne (14th-fastest) and Aric Almirola (18th-fastest).