WATKINS GLEN, NY – You can add the title “road course ringer” to Carl Edwards’ racing resume. Touring the road course at Watkins Glen in 69.689 seconds (126.562 mph) during Friday’s time trials at Watkins Glen International, Edwards beat Kyle Larson (126.223 mph) by .182 seconds to earn the top starting spot for Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at the Glen (2:30 p.m. ET, USA, MNR SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). In winning his fourth Coors Light Pole Award of the season and the 20th of his career, Edwards completed a sweep of road course poles in 2016, having also started first on the grid at Sonoma Raceway in June. Starting Lineup Larson’s second-place effort was a career-best on a road course, bettering the third starting position he earned at Sonoma in 2014. Tony Stewart (126.177 mph) qualified third on Friday, followed by Matt Kenseth (126.104 mph) and Kyle Busch (126.099 mph), both teammates to Edwards at Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards said starting on the pole on the newly repaved racing surface at the Glen will be a significant advantage. “I think (Sunday) is going to be a little bit of an adventure,” said Edwards, whose four poles this year constitute a career best for a single season. “The new pavement, nobody knows how that’s going to go along deep into the runs with tire build-up. I think the braking zones are pretty tough, and it’s going to be nice and warm. “So, just got to stay upfront, can’t make any mistakes. I love road races. They’re so much fun. I got to talk to Boris Said, who’s basically my road racing coach to start, so that was cool today. Hopefully, tonight I’ll get me some good rest and hopefully be very competitive tomorrow.” Even though Edwards’ No. 19 Camry was fastest in qualifying, he expects stiff competition on Sunday from his Toyota brethren. “My teammates, they’re really fast,” Edwards said. Kyle (Busch) is really fast and Martin (Truex Jr. of affiliated Furniture Row Racing) is really fast. “We’ve got to work a little bit in race trim, but we’re starting up front, and we’ve got a great pit crew, and hopefully we can put (the car) in Victory Lane.” Truex, in fact, was one of the favorites for the pole, but his hot lap in the money round was impeded by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who entered the track at the bottom of the esses as Truex was approaching that uphill section of the 2.45-mile course. Truex, who qualified 14th, returned the favor on his cool-down lap, taking Stenhouse’s line in the esses and relegating the Roush Fenway Racing driver to a 30th-place starting spot. Jeff Gordon qualified 21st in his third start for Dale Earnhardt Jr. AJ Allmendinger, the 2014 Watkins Glen winner, will start ninth. – by Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
