Earnhardt Starting 23rd at Phoenix

11/9/2012

Dale Jr. will start 23rd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Phoenix International Raceway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start 23rd in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Phoenix International Raceway. The No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet posted a lap of 135.547 mph (26.559 sec.) around the 1-mile tri-oval in Avondale, Ariz. Kyle Busch, the final driver to take time in Friday’s qualifying session, set a new track record with a fast time of 138.766 mph (25.943 sec.) to score the Coors Light Pole Award.

“We’ve got a completely different setup than we ran here earlier this year,” Earnhardt told reporters on Friday. “So right now I’m just anxious to get in the car and see what we can do.”

Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and Aric Almirola filled spots two through five for Sunday’s grid, followed by Kurt Busch, Paul Menard, Regan Smith, Tony Stewart and Mark Martin in positions six through ten.

Two final practice sessions at Phoenix International Raceway are scheduled for Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. ET. Both sessions will be televised live on SPEED.

Coverage of Sunday’s AdvoCare 500 begins at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN.