Richard Petty Motorsports Coca-Cola 600 Qualifying Report
05.23.13
Richard Petty Motorsports Coca-Cola 600
Qualifying Report
Qualifying Report
Charlotte Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile oval
Qualifying for NASCAR's longest race took place Thursday at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The Coca-Cola 600 will be held Sunday night, and Richard Petty Motorsports will have opportunities to bring home a win as the series honors our veterans. Their qualifying results were:
18- Aric Almirola, No. 43 Air Force Ford
19 - Marcos Ambrose, No. 9 DEWALT Ford
- Denny Hamlin won the pole for Sunday night's race and broke the track record previously held by Almirola and the No. 43 Ford. Kurt Busch will start on the outside pole.
- Greg Biffle led Ford Racing and will start seventh.
- The Coca-Cola 600 begins Sunday night, May 26, at 6 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on FOX, PRN Radio and SIRIUS/XM NASCAR Radio.
Almirola's Thoughts on Qualifying at Charlotte:
"We missed it a little bit. I thought there was gonna be more grip out there, and I committed to there being more grip out there, and I just overdrove the car. I thought there was gonna be substantially more grip, and there really wasn’t enough to go as fast as I was trying to go. That should be OK. I don’t think it will be horrible. We expected a whole lot more than that after being fifth in practice. We thought we were gonna be really good, so I’m a little bit disappointed, but it’s a long race and last year we started first and didn’t finish first, so this year it’s more important to finish first."
Ambrose's Thoughts on Qualifying at Charlotte:
"The car drove 'OK', said Ambrose after his lap. "It danced around a little bit, but it wasn't bad. We are a lot better this week and the car is faster. I can drive it pretty hard, but we need to tweak it a little bit more. The DEWALT crew will work on it, and we'll be ready for Sunday."
About Richard Petty Motorsports:
A performance and marketing driven company, Richard Petty Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty and successful business entrepreneurs Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, is one of the most recognized brands in all of motorsports. With a history of over 200 wins and business partnerships with national and global leaders, today the race operation fields two teams in competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force and STP and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners Stanley and DEWALT. In addition, Michael Annett wheels the No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.
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