Roush Fenway Drivers Invade Top-12 in Sprint Cup Qualifying

Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 Cheez-it Ford, stands on the grid prior to qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hellmann's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 22, 2016 in Talladega, Alabama. Photo - Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 Cheez-it Ford, stands on the grid prior to qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hellmann’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 22, 2016 in Talladega, Alabama. Photo – Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Collectively, Roush Fenway Racing turned in an admirable performance during Saturday’s time trials, putting all three of its full-time Fords in the top-11 on the grid.

Greg Biffle led the RFR qualifying effort with a fifth-place effort, followed closely by teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the No. 17 Fusion. Trevor Bayne was 11th in the No. 6 Ford.

“Our speedway qualifying has been really good the last couple of years,” Stenhouse said. “It’s really cool to see all of the hard work that the guys put in at the shop and Doug (Yates) with the engines pay off.

“A lot of effort goes into trying to qualify well here, because anytime you can qualify well here, it generally means you have a better drafting race car. I’m happy with our top-10 start. We’ll get a good pit stall selection and hopefully we’ll be able to keep our track position all day.”

Two of Stenhouse’s six career top-five finishes have come at restrictor-plate tracks. Bayne picked up his only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in the 2011 Daytona 500.