Rookie Jeb Burton is on a big run.
After scoring the pole recently at Martinsville (and enjoying it so much he cried), Burton repeated in qualifying Sunday at Rockingham Speedway, winning the pole for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.
The race is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start today and will be televised by SPEED.
Burton ran 146.909 miles per hour, easily topping the track record (144.387) set by Nelson Piquet Jr. for last year’s inaugural race at the Rock.
Following Burton were James Buescher, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Matt Crafton.
The top 10 qualifiers all were faster than Piquet’s record run last year.
In the second five were Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Dakoda Armstrong, Brendan Gaughan and Darrell Wallace Jr.
Last year’s winner, Kasey Kahne, is not in today’s field.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 31 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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