Tony Stewart earns pole for Sunday’s Samsung 500 at TMS

FORT WORTH — Tony Stewart has raced 17 times at Texas Motor Speedway and has won one race, but he has never won a pole here at the 1.5-mile speedway.

Today he finally earned his first pole at TMS.

Stewart, behind the wheel of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet, recorded the fastest time of the day clocked at 28.224 seconds, 191.327 mph.

“It was pretty cool,” Stewart said. “I’m surprised because I am not pretty much a qualifier. It shows how what Darian Grubb and all of the guys at Stewart-Hass and just how much hard work they have been doing and today is the result.”

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet, fires a Turnbull 1886 Take Down Rifle after setting the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Samsung Mobile 500 following qualifying Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.

This was Stewart’s first pole and fourth top-10 start this year.

The last time that Stewart won a pole award for a NASCAR race came 155 races ago in October 2005 at Martinsville Speedway. Despite his success in NASCAR, he has only won 11 pole awards in 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

Sam Hornish Jr., driving the No. 77 Mobile 1 Dodge, was second with a 28.238 second, 191.232 mph lap. It was his third top-10 start of 2010 and the first in five races at Texas Motor Speedway. This is his best qualifying effort.

“I knew that it was going to be a good lap, but I didn’t think that it would be the second fastest,” Hornish said. “I knew we definitely had a top five lap, but definitely not second.”

Prior to today’s run, the highest Hornish has every qualified was third one week ago at Phoenix International Raceway.

Courtesy photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot / Old Spice Chevrolet, drives on track during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Samsung Mobile 500 on Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Greg Biffle, who drives the No. 16 3M Post-it Ford, was third fastest. It will be his sixth top-10 start at Texas Motor Speedway.

“I could have probably arched it into three and four and got a little more speed out of the car,” Biffle said. “I’m just happy that we are back on track. The car was super fast in race trim and that is what I am more happy about than qualifying up front.”