Smith Qualifies 28th in Bristol

August 21, 2009

BRISTOL, Tenn. (Aug. 21, 2009) -- Regan Smith will start 28th in Saturday night's Sharpie 500 Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. He will start on the outside of Row 14, alongside Dale Earnhardt Jr., who qualified 27th.

Smith's No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet Impala SS covered the half-mile oval in Friday's time trials in 15.654 seconds at 122.576 miles per hour. The team has qualified in all of the 12 races it has entered this season.

"We had some issues in practice, but managed to get this Furniture Row Chevy in the big show," said Smith. "This is a survival race and we're just going to be patient and make sure we're there at the end. This is one of my favorite tracks and one of my favorite races."

The pole winner was Mark Martin (124.464 mph). Rounding out the top-five in order were: Greg Biffle, Scott Speed, Dave Blaney and Matt Kenseth.

Saturday night's race will be televised on ESPN, beginning with a prerace show at 4:30 p.m. MT. (6:30 ET).

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