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Phil Burkart came to the starting line for Saturday's first session clinging to the No. 15 spot on the grid, and in real danger of being knocked out of this stout race field. In 4.774-seconds, however, he erased any doubt about his participation in this season-ending event. He did not make a full pass on his final attempt, and will race from the No. 12 on Sunday, facing Eric Medlen in round one.
"We were trying to be cool about it during that first session, because the number one thing around here was our concern for Del after his wreck on Friday," Burkart said. "We knew we were down there close to the bump line, and we also knew we wanted to make sure no one had to worry about us making the field, because we've all had enough to worry about this weekend. Still, we were smart enough to know we really needed a good lap on the first one today. Stringing it out to the final run is never a good thing, so we wanted to put it solidly in the field, and that's exactly what we did.
"It was just a great run, really. Right down there, never in any big trouble, and clearly good enough to lock up a place in the field. We got caught in a deal where the track conditions just got too huge for our tune-up on the last run, as the sun went down and the track cooled way down, so we ended up shaking the tires and having to shut off. We've got one of the Force big boys in round one, so we'll have to bring our best game with us."
BURKART JUMPS UP TO A 4.77, WILL RACE FROM 12 HOLE
Phil Burkart came to the starting line for Saturday's first session clinging to the No. 15 spot on the grid, and in real danger of being knocked out of this stout race field. In 4.774-seconds, however, he erased any doubt about his participation in this season-ending event. He did not make a full pass on his final attempt, and will race from the No. 12 on Sunday, facing Eric Medlen in round one.
"We were trying to be cool about it during that first session, because the number one thing around here was our concern for Del after his wreck on Friday," Burkart said. "We knew we were down there close to the bump line, and we also knew we wanted to make sure no one had to worry about us making the field, because we've all had enough to worry about this weekend. Still, we were smart enough to know we really needed a good lap on the first one today. Stringing it out to the final run is never a good thing, so we wanted to put it solidly in the field, and that's exactly what we did.
"It was just a great run, really. Right down there, never in any big trouble, and clearly good enough to lock up a place in the field. We got caught in a deal where the track conditions just got too huge for our tune-up on the last run, as the sun went down and the track cooled way down, so we ended up shaking the tires and having to shut off. We've got one of the Force big boys in round one, so we'll have to bring our best game with us."
