JOLIET, Ill. — Ross Kenseth had a bumpy introduction to Chicagoland Speedway’s 1.5-mile oval during Friday’s practice as he prepared for his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut.
Kenseth, the son of the 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth, caught a rough patch in turn four and swayed several times while working to regain full control of his No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry.
He managed to avoid any rivals and the wall and finally did a complete spin before coming safely to a halt.
“(I) got in the gas pretty hard off of (turn) four and started stepping out,” Kenseth said. “I got to the point where I thought I had it and it got really loose. From there it was hanging on, not trying to hit the wall or get into the grass and kick the front off it.”
But Kenseth, 22, appeared to be a quick study, steadily improving from Friday’s practice through Saturday’s qualifying.
Kenseth earned a spot in Row 1 for Saturday’s fifth annual Owens Corning AttiCat 300. After the sixth-fastest time in the first qualifying round, he topped the 24-car field in the second round and was narrowly edged by Austin Dillon for top time in the third and final round.
Dillon won the pole with a lap of 30.583 seconds, 176.569 miles per hour while Kenseth checked in at 30.585 seconds / 176.557 mph. Elliott Sadler was third and posted his eighth career top-10 start at Chicagoland.
Veteran Matt Kenseth was on hand at Chicagoland and was enjoying his son’s efforts.
“I’ve learned that I’m never ready enough to be at the race track without driving in it,” Matt Kenseth said. “But I’m enjoying watching Ross.”
Series leader Chris Buescher had the ninth-fastest qualifying time and started in row five.
Source: NASCAR Wire Service
