Smith Qualifies 16th in Sprint Cup Finale

November 20, 2009

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Nov. 20, 2009) -- Driving the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, Regan Smith qualified 16th for Sunday's season finale Sprint Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"Regan did an excellent job on his qualifying lap -- he drove the car hard and his effort really paid off," said team crew chief Jay Guy.

In Friday's time trials, Smith recorded a lap time and speed of 31.473 seconds at 171.576 miles per hour.

"Everybody really rebounded from last week's shocker in Phoenix," said Smith. "I had a good car in practice and an even better one in qualifying. It was a solid team effort, and our goal is to end the season with a positive performance."

Smith qualified in 18 of the 20 Sprint Cup races that Furniture Row Racing entered in 2009.

The Homestead pole winner was Jimmie Johnson (173.919 mph). Rounding out the top-five in order were: Scott Speed, Marcos Ambrose, Mark Martin and Stewart.

Sunday's Ford 400 will be televised on ABC, beginning with a prerace show at 12:30 p.m. MT.