Ambrose obliterates MIS record

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

BROOKLYN, Mich.

Marcos Ambrose has a new distinction — he’s the fastest thing in a NASCAR Sprint Cup stock car in 25 years.

With a record-setting run Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, Ambrose won the pole for today’s Quicken Loans 400, leading 18 other drivers who broke the 200-mph barrier and 38 others who topped Ryan Newman’s previous track record of 194.232 mph, set in 2005.

Ambrose claimed the first pole of his career with a lap at 203.241 mph (35.426 seconds), beating second-place qualifier Kevin Harvick (202.037 mph) by .211 seconds. But Ambrose didn’t have long to enjoy it.

Because of tire blistering at high speeds during testing and practice on Thursday and Friday, Goodyear had mandated change to a harder left-side tire after qualifying. Cup teams were set to practice on the new tires late Saturday afternoon in preparation for today’s race.

Greg Biffle, whose top practice speed on Friday was a series-best 204.708 mph, qualified third on Saturday at 201.816 mph.

Kasey Kahne (201.720 mph) and Newman (201.472 mph) completed the top five. Series leader Matt Kenseth will start sixth after a lap at 201.461 mph.

Ambrose’s lap was the fastest run in the series since Bill Elliott posted 203.827 mph at Talladega in 1987, the last year the series ran at Daytona and Talladega without restrictor plates. It was the fastest lap ever run at a speedway other and Daytona and Talladega and the 11th-fastest in series history.

“It is good bragging right — I’ll give it that,” Ambrose said. “I’m just really excited to get the speed, and to claim to be the fastest guy out there is just awesome.

“It felt that fast to me, too. Really fun times out there.”