Mike Looney did not think he had a car capable of starting on pole in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 on Saturday.
The 2016 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winner was pleasantly surprised to put down a lap of 14.837, giving him the best track position of anyone in the 37-car field.
“The Lord blessed us today,” Looney said. “This new Reynolds Racing chassis has been really good and we’ve been breaking it in fast. There’s a lot of heavy hitters here tonight as well, so we definitely surprised ourselves.”
Looney is hoping that a victory at South Boston Speedway tonight will turn around what has been an inconsistent season dominated by bad luck and fuel pickup issues.
Looney’s stellar run only gave him a small advantage over current South Boston points leader and defending Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 winner Peyton Sellers, who starts third on the grid.
Other drivers that Looney will have to fend off for the victory tonight include former track champions in Justin Johnson and Timothy Peters as well as Late Model Stock newcomers like Conner Jones and Kaden Honeycutt.
Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 Lineup:
1. Mike Looney
2. Conner Jones
3. Peyton Sellers
4. Kaden Honeycutt
5. Carter Langley
6. Jacob Borst
7. Chad McCumbee
8. Justin Johnson
9. Brandon Pierce
10. Mini Tyrrell
11. Chris Denny
12. Chandler Smith
13. Thomas Scott
14. Bobby McCarty
15. Brenden Queen
16. Stuart Crews
17. Landon Pembelton
18. Mark Wertz
19. Timothy Peters
20. Jared Fryar
21. Jason Barnes
22. Grayson Cullather
23. Jason Myers
24. Nick Smith
25. Trey Crews
26. Colin Garrett
27. Matt Waltz
28. Ronald Hill
29. Camden Gullie
30. Danny Willis Jr.
31. Chris Johnson
32. Chris Elliott
33. Blake Stallings
34. Terry Dease
35. Terry Carroll
36. Jordan Pickrel
37. Larry Barrett
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