Busch Leads Penske Drivers with Sixth-Place Start in Daytona
July 2, 2010
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 2, 2010) – Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger, will lead the Penske Racing trio of Cup Series drivers to the green flag Saturday night with a sixth-place starting position for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway after Friday’s qualifying session was cancelled due to rain. Drivers Brad Keselowski and Sam Hornish Jr., will start the race in 26th and 30th places, respectively.
Only 12 drivers were able to make a qualifying attempt at the 2.5-mile superspeedway before a light, but steady rain began to fall. Both Hornish and Keselowski were able to complete their qualifying runs, with Hornish sitting in the provisional pole position. With the cancellation of qualifying, the field was set by 2010 owner points per the NASCAR rule book. Currently sixth in the standings, the No. 2 team will line up in the sixth starting position tomorrow night.
“We’ve got a really good Mobil 1 Dodge Charger,” said Hornish. “I was really happy with our car yesterday. Watching everybody in practice, I felt really good and thought that we’d have a good car for qualifying. The big thing for tomorrow night is to make sure that we’re there at the end of the race.
“It’s definitely a good day. It’s my birthday and I don’t get to be inside the race car too much on my birthday. I think that the last time I was in a car on my birthday was at Kansas in the IndyCar Series.”
Coverage of the Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola will air live on Saturday, July 3 on the TNT television network beginning at 7:30 p.m. EDT. The event will also be broadcast live on MRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio.