Kurt Busch edges McMurray for Michigan pole

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(June 11, 2010)

BROOKLYN, Mich.—The rivalry between team owners Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi may not be as intense in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing as it is in IndyCars—but it’s getting there.

Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray added fuel to the fire Friday at Michigan International Speedway, where Busch earned the Coors Light Pole Award in his No. 2 Penske Dodge, edging McMurray’s No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet.

Benefitting from a relatively early draw (12th), Busch streaked around the 2-mile racetrack in 37.898 seconds (189.984 mph) to claim the top starting spot for Sunday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400. McMurray, who was the first driver to make a qualifying attempt after rain delayed time trials, will start on the outside of the front row after turning a lap at 189.788 mph.

On May 30, Busch won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, with McMurray running second. A week later at Pocono, Penske’s Sam Hornish Jr. and EGR’s Juan Pablo Montoya ran 1-2 late in the Cup race.

“It’s always been a genuine rivalry between Ganassi and Penske,” Busch said. “The drivers (in NASCAR racing)—we don’t feel it as much, but with situations that keep coming up like this, and with Roger texting me or patting me on the back, saying, ‘Way to bring it home for the good guys,’ it makes you feel like the rivalry is there—for sure.

“It’s just coincidental that we were running good, and the Ganassi cars are running good, whether it’s my teammate and Montoya or myself and McMurray. It’s good to be on that competitive side, whereas we see the RCR (Richard Childress Racing) cars and the Gibbs cars running into each other a lot—that’s just coincidental as well. It’s just one of those fun times where things are going good for both of our programs.”

Jimmie Johnson (189.668 mph) qualified third, followed by Kasey Kahne (189.623 mph) and Jeff Burton (189.474 mph). Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, David Reutimann and Montoya will start from positions six through 10, respectively.

“We joked around a little bit on top of the hauler that Kurt … certainly, if we could get rid of him, we would have won Charlotte, and we’d be on the pole here,” McMurray said. “They’re just running really well right now. I think that’s great that we get to have that same competitiveness between the Penske and Ganassi teams that they’ve had in IndyCar racing for years.

“It’s exciting, I think, for the NASCAR team to be able to perform as well as we have, and the same thing for the Penske team. It’s great that we’re not just talking about Hendrick and Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Childress—that our names are included in that.”

Notes: Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, first and second in the Cup standings, qualified 31st and 15th, respectively. … Dave Blaney, Michael Waltrip and Johnny Sauter failed to make the 43-car field. … Landon Cassill, 20, in his Cup debut, will start 35th in James Finch’s No. 09 Chevrolet.

Below is the starting grid for the 2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 from Michigan International Speedway: