NASCAR at Michigan 2015 Qualifying Results: Race Order, Final Times and Reaction

The Pure Michigan 400 discovered its official race order on Friday evening after qualifying at Michigan International Speedway.  

Some fast times were set to be posted even though NASCAR instituted a high drag package for this race, making its cars more difficult to drive with a larger spoiler among the alterations, according to USAToday.com's Jeff Gluck. These changes allows more air to travel under and through the car, making it difficult to navigate on the turns, but fly on straightaways.

The style of the track coupled with the new package had NASCAR revert back to single-car qualifying as opposed to group rounds.

Here is a look at the top qualifiers and final race order. For the full order, click here. 

Rank	Driver	Best Time
1	Matt Kenseth	36.458
2	Denny Hamlin	36.550
3	Carl Edwards	36.683
4	Austin Dillon	36.750
5	Tony Stewart	36.833
6	Kyle Busch	36.838
7	Kevin Harvick	36.876
8	Jimmy Johnson	36.880
9	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	36.945
10	Joey Logano	37.036
11	Kasey Kahne	37.088
12	Clint Bowyer	37.189
13	David Ragan	37.184
14	Brad Keselowski	39.199
15	Sam Hornish Jr.	37.214
16	Kurt Busch	37.246
17	Ryan Newman	37.246
18	Jamie McMurray	37.277
19	Ryan Blaney	37.281
20	Greg Biffle	37.300
21	Jeff Gordon	37.304
22	Martin Truex Jr.	37.321
23	Danica Patrick	37.350
24	Paul Menard	37.379
25	Trevor Bayne	37.499
26	A.J. Allmendinger	37.534
27	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	37.581
28	Justin Allgaier	37.624
29	Jeb Burton	37.753
30	Aric Almirola	37.790
31	Landon Cassill	37.885
32	Matt DiBenedetto	37.885
33	Alex Bowman	38.018
34	Kyle Larson	38.049
35	Cole Whitt	38.077
36	David Gilliland	38.110
37	J.J. Yeley	38.145
38	Brett Moffitt	38.193
39	Michael Annett	38.302
40	Casey Mears	38.599
41	Josh Wise	38.705
42	Travis Kvapil	39.200
43	Timmy Hill	39.335
44	Reed Sorenson	38.631

Matt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing wins the pole for the Pure Michigan 400, the third time this year that he has won a pole, tying a career-high for most top starts in a season. NASCAR caught the winner pulling into the pits after he sealed his spot:

It was bound to happen that a driver from Gibbs Racing took the pole. The team swept the first round, with Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin nabbing the top-four spots heading into the final round:

Gibbs Racing was looking to be the first team since Hendrick Motorsports at Talladega in 2011 to start one through four in a race, according to NASCAR Stats. But Austin Dillon spoiled that party with a 36.750 in the second round putting him in fourth. Hamlin took the second spot and Edwards the third. Busch is the lone Gibbs member out of the top group starting in sixth. It still is the first time ever that Gibbs Racing starts a race 1-2-3. 

Kenseth is looking for his third victory of the season fresh off of a win at Pocono on August 2. Going into Sunday's race, his car is looking like its capable of doing so. His No. 20 Toyota went 203 mph down the back-stretch despite the car's alterations, the fastest any car went during Friday's qualifying round. 

He clinched it in dramatic fashion, dethroning his teammate Hamlin off of the top spot as the last racer of the day. 

With such a fast track allowing drivers to keep on the throttle longer, qualifying became even more difficult. There was not much a driver could do but make sure their car was trimmed out and there was decent cloud coverage when they drove, which makes the track a bit faster.

Motorsport.com's Lee Spencer overheard Clint Bowyer, who will be starting in 12th, after his qualifying:

The clouds rolled in late into the first round, further helping the faster drivers of the day. The order of qualifying was decided by each driver's practice rounds. The slower the time, the earlier in the qualifying round they went. 

Other notable racers in the top-12 who managed to benefit from the weather include Tony Stewart in fifth, Jimmie Johnson in eighth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in ninth. 

With a fast, wide track at Michigan International Speedway coupled with a high drag package waiting for its drivers, a wild race is set for Sunday. Fans can expect to see drivers rarely using their brakes with a whole lot of throttle creating some wild passes, aggressive driving and hopefully a photo finish.

Stats courtesy of NASCAR.com