The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway will begin at 6:00 pm E.T on FOX. Martin Truex Jr. claimed the pole position on Friday and will start out in front of the field. The Coors Light Pole Award was Truex’s second of the season and the ninth of his Sprint Cup series career. Both of the Joe Gibbs Racing new addition’s poles this year have come on one and a half mile venues. Truex Jr.’s previous one came at Kansas Speedway earlier this spring.
“We were just chasing the race track and changing the car and really never got it close to right until that last run. I’m really just proud of the effort and proud of all my guys for that. It feels good – 600 miles, that first pit stall (the pole winner’s prerogative) … We’re going to be on pit road a lot on Sunday night, and that’s certainly going to be an advantage. Hopefully, we can take advantage of it and make it work for us.”
The #78 will be surrounded by Ford Fusions when the green flag drops for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday. The #22 Pennzoil sponsored hot-rod driven by Joey Logano will start second in order, on the outside of Martin Truex Jr. Logano won the discombobulated NASCAR All-Star Race here last weekend and was the fastest in the two previous qualifying rounds.
“I got a little bit tight landing in (Turn) 1 and then a little bit free off (the corner),” Joey Logano said. “It wasn’t much. And then (Turns) 3 and 4, I actually thought was a pretty good corner. So I would say most of it was down in 1 and 2 – probably at landing and through the center is where I lost most of my momentum. It’s not much. Half-a-tenth of a second doesn’t take long.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drove his way into the third slated spot for the start of the Coca-Cola 600. The #17 Fastenal Ford fusion was fairly quick in the opening practice round and put together a great qualifying effort. Stenhouse Jr. has yet to impress at Charlotte Motor Speedway and has not proven to be a productive B spot driver for fantasy players. Maybe this will be the 2013 Xfinity Series Champion’s break out race.
Another Joe Gibbs Racing stand-out will be launching out of the fourth position. Denny Hamlin and his #11 FedEx racing machine will look to continue a stellar 2016 Sprint Cup season. Hamlin was the fourteenth fastest competitor in the first practice but improved considerably in the qualifying rounds. The Daytona 500 winner took fourth in the Coca-Cola 600 in 2015. I wouldn’t hesitate to place him on my ticket as a B spot driver for fantasy fans.
Rounding out the top five will be the other Team Penske owned for Fusion of Brad Keselowki. The #2 Miller Lite was quick in the practice round and qualified in the fifth spot behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The speedster finished ninth in the 2015 version of the Coca-Cola 600. Keselowski has to be a consideration to win the race knowing that he exchanges information with teammate Joey Logano, who led 227 laps here last year.
Greg Biffle and his #16 Cheez-It Ford will begin net to Brad Keselowski in the sixth position. Biffle won a leg here in the All-Star race a week earlier and still looks to have some speed carried over from last weekends event.
NASCAR’s mister everything Jimmie Johnson will be firing off out of the seventh position for the 2016 Coca-Cola 600. Johnson is no stranger to Victory Lane here at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Johnson was second quickest in the opening practice and kept the speed in the qualifying rounds. Last year the #48 Lowes Chevrolet experienced engine problems and finished in the back of the field, but the speedster has found his way to the Winners Circle seven different times in the Coca-Cola 600. As an A listed driver, Johnson has to be on some fantasy tickets.
The #4 Freaky Fast Jimmy Johns sponsored Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick will start in eighth. The 2016 Sprint Cup points leader has won here three different times and is another shoe-in for an A list driver. Carl Edwards will take his #19 Subway Toyota from the ninth starting position. Edwards, like all his Joe Gibbs Racing’s teammates has had a stellar season. Rounding out the top ten is the #6 AdvoCare Ford driven by Trevor Bayne. Bayne won the first segment in the All-star race and also has carried over speed for this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600.
Starting Line-Up for the 2016 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway:
1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Joey Logano
3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
4. Denny Hamiln
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Greg Biffle
7. Jimmie Johnson
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Carl Edwards
10. Trevor Bayne
11. Paul Menard
12. Chase Elliot
13. Kurt Busch
14. Ryan Newman
15. AJ Allmendinger
16. Kyle Busch
17. Casey Mears
18. Ryan Blaney
19. Danica Patrick
20. Aric Almirola
21. Tony Stewart
22. Chris Buescher
23. Jamie McMurray
24. Kyle Larson
25. Dale Earnhardt Jr
26. Clint Bowyer
27. Matt Kenseth
28. Austin Dillon
29. Kasey Kahne
30. Brian Scott
31. Regan Smith
32. Michael McDowell
33. Landon Cassill
34. Matt DiBenedetto
35. David Ragan
36. Cole Whitt
37. Josh Wise
38. Michael Annett
39. Jeffrey Earnhardt
40. Reed Sorenson
The Huns Fantasy Line-Up:
A: Joey Logano
B: Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott
C: Tony Stewart
