Saturday, October 22, 2016

NASCAR Talladega 2016 qualifying results: Martin Truex Jr. wins pole after parts seized from car





Truex's pole-winning lap came after NASCAR confiscated parts of his car during technical inspection.

Ignoring questions about the legality of his car, Martin Truex Jr. won the pole Saturday for the second round Chase for the Sprint Cup elimination race Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.


Truex's lap of 193.423 mph bested second-place qualifier Brad Keselowski (193.365 mph), followed by Matt Kenseth, Chase Elliott and Greg Biffle. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon and Paul Menard rounded out the top 10.


Prior to qualifying, NASCAR confiscated front jack screws off Truex's car. He could face a potential points penalty, though NASCAR senior vice president of competition Scott Miller said it was "unlikely." Any penalties would likely be announced mid-week.


"All the crazy talk going on today is nonsense," Truex said. "I think people speculate on things and don't really know what they are. The jack bolt issue is really not a big issue."


Truex's car wasn't alone in getting close scrutiny, as the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas of Kyle Busch, Kenseth and Hamlin were all pulled from the qualifying line on pit road and required to go through inspection an additional time before making a qualifying attempt. All three cars passed inspection.


David Gilliland was the only driver failing to qualify among the 41 entrants.

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