Qualifying Results for the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway

• After several hours of rain on Thursday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (LMS), NSCS qualifying began at 9:10 p.m. ET. Kasey Kahne and the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Team qualified third for Saturday’s NASCAR Banking 500 presented by Bank of America.
• Kahne was the 10th driver to compete in NSCS qualifying, turning in a time of 28.264 and a speed of 191.056 mph.
• NSCS competitors were able to get on track for a one hour practice session at 6:30 p.m. Kahne was 10th on the speed charts following the practice session.
• In 11 starts at LMS, Kahne has eight top 10 starts.
• Jimmie Johnson was the 11th car to qualify and posted a qualifying time of 28.070 seconds at a speed of 192.376 mph to earn the pole award.
• There are two practice sessions scheduled for Friday.
• The NASCAR Banking 500 presented by Bank of America is scheduled for a 7 pm ET start on Saturday on ABC.

Kahne discusses this weekend’s NASCAR Banking 500:
“It was a really good lap for our Budweiser Dodge. We ran right about where we were in practice earlier today. I think that I gave up a little on entry in Turn 3 and that's probably where I lost time to Jimmie (Johnson). There's a lot of grip out there. It's really fast. It's really good right now. It was a good qualifying lap for us. I wish that I had another lap.”

HOW MUCH WAS IT A BENEFIT FOR THE PRACTICE TODAY TO BE AT THE SAME TIME AS THE RACE ON SATURDAY? “It’s qualifying practice today. I’m actually happy that NASCAR went ahead and found time to get practice in and qualifying because I think that qualifying here is a lot of fun and it’s a big part of the weekend. I’m glad (NASCAR) went ahead and stayed a little late because we got qualifying in and that’s good.”

ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH HOW FAST THE SPEEDS ARE HERE THIS WEEKEND? “Yeah, I think that the track had a lot of grip tonight. When (the track) has grip…both ends of the car…front and rear…the car is in the track. The car drove really good and that’s Kenny Francis and our whole Richard Petty Motorsports team who did a nice job getting our car balanced and keep working on the car to get it to go around the track like that. Our engine program is getting better. We have one of the better engines that we’ve had all year tonight and it shows. I think everything is getting better and when you have a track like this with a lot of grip it’s going to go fast.”

The following is the starting position of the other beverage-sponsored cars participating in the NASCAR banking 500 presented by Bank of America race weekend:

• Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite-15th
• Scott Speed and the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota-16th
• Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 26 Jeremiah Weed Southern Style Sweet Tea Ford-20th
• Brian Vickers and the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota-30th
• Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet-39th
• Casey Mears and the No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet-40th

Saturday’s 250-lap event is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET start. ABC will provide the live television broadcast of race beginning with its pre-race show at 6:30 p.m. EDT. Radio coverage will be provided by the Performance Racing Network (PRN).