Date: June 27, 2008
Event: Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Qualifying (Round 17 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1.058-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Patrick Carpentier of Gillette Evernham Motorsports (29.349 seconds at 129.776 mph)
J.J. Yeley: 30th (29.835 seconds at 127.662 mph)
J.J. Yeley qualified 30th for Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
Yeley, driver of the No. 96 DLP® HDTV Toyota Camry for Hall of Fame Racing, toured the 1.058-mile oval in 29.835 seconds at 127.662 mph during Friday’s rain-interrupted qualifying session. Showers halted the session for almost two hours after just 25 of the 45 drivers entered were able to record lap times. When it resumed, 10 of the top 12 qualifying laps were recorded after the rain delay.
“Ours was a decent lap,” said Yeley, who has two top-10 finishes in five career Sprint Cup races at New Hampshire. “We picked up from what we ran in practice. Most everyone did.
“I felt a lot better with my car after qualifying. I felt like we were too tight and the race track must’ve picked up grip, but it was still pretty slippery after the delay. We’ll start 30th instead of 39th (had rain forced the grid to be set according to owner points). Every time you pick up positions on this track, it’s a help because it’s very hard to pass. This is basically two drag strips with a couple of corners in-between. I just wish we had a little bit better forward bite. I think it would have been pretty easy to pick up a tenth or a tenth-and-a-half. But it’s something good to build on.
“We spent a lot more time in race trim than we originally planned (in practice). Our fastest lap (in race trim) was about our 10th or 12th lap, and we ran those lap times consistently. So the guys who rushed right into qualifying (trim during practice), or didn’t run any race trim at all, we’ve got a big advantage over them. We learned a couple of things that made the car a lot better. I’m confident going in.”
Forty-five drivers attempted to qualify for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Tony Raines and Marcos Ambrose.
As far as manufacturers went, Dodge swept the front row via the runs made by Carpentier and Labonte. Chevrolet was next best at the hands of Harvick. Ford was the third-fastest make thanks to ninth-quick Matt Kenseth (29.612 seconds at 128.624). And carrying the flag for Toyota was 10th-quick A.J. Allmendinger (29.612 seconds at 128.624 mph).
The Lenox Industrial Tools 301 gets underway at 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday with live, high-definition coverage provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at 12:30 p.m. The race will also be broadcast on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.
–DLP® HDTV–