Austin Dillon left it to the final 15 seconds of qualifying to grab the pole for the Auto Club 400 at Fontana in California.
It was Dillon first pole of the season, and only the second (Daytona 500 2014) in his Sprint Cup career aboard the famous #3 of Richard Childress Racing.
Last week’s winner, Kevin Harvick, led the final round until topped the speed charts with a 303.332km/h (188.482 mph) lap.
“It means everything,” said Dillon.
“I’m not just a Daytona 500 pole sitter now. I’ve got a pole somewhere else.”
Following Dillon and Harvick on Friday were Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards.
Defending race winner Brad Keselowski will start 15th, while California native Jimmie Johnson, who has earned five wins at Fontana, qualified 19th.
QUALIFYING: Auto Club 400 – Auto Club Speedway Fontana
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | MPH | TIME | GAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Austin Dillon |  |
American Ethanol | 188.482 | 38.200 | Leader |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | |
Jimmy John’s | 188.329 | 38.231 | –0.031 |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin |  |
Sport Clips | 187.637 | 38.372 | –0.172 |
| 4 | 31 | Ryan Newman | |
Caterpillar | 187.276 | 38.446 | –0.246 |
| 5 | 19 | Carl Edwards | |
Subway | 187.222 | 38.457 | –0.257 |
| 6 | 18 | Kyle Busch | |
M&M’s 75 | 187.212 | 38.459 | –0.259 |
| 7 | 6 | Trevor Bayne |  |
Advocare Ford Fusion | 186.916 | 38.520 | –0.320 |
| 8 | 24 | Chase Elliott | |
NAPA Auto Parts | 186.795 | 38.545 | –0.345 |
| 9 | 22 | Joey Logano | |
AAA Southern Cal. | 186.557 | 38.594 | –0.394 |
| 10 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | |
McDonald’s | 186.345 | 38.638 | –0.438 |
| 11 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | |
Food 4 Less/Scott Products | 185.687 | 38.775 | –0.575 |
| 12 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | |
Farmers Insurance | 187.642 | 38.371 | –0.171 |
| 13 | 27 | Paul Menard | |
FVP / Menards | 187.495 | 38.401 | –0.201 |
| 14 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | |
Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire + Auto Center | 187.480 | 38.404 | –0.204 |
| 15 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | |
Wurth | 187.232 | 38.455 | –0.255 |
| 16 | 34 | Chris Buescher | |
Love’s Travel Stops | 187.154 | 38.471 | –0.271 |
| 17 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | |
Furniture Row | 187.028 | 38.497 | –0.297 |
| 18 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | |
Fastenal Ford Fusion | 186.528 | 38.600 | –0.400 |
| 19 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | |
Lowe’s / Superman | 186.297 | 38.648 | –0.448 |
| 20 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | |
DeWalt | 186.268 | 38.654 | –0.454 |
| 21 | 44 | Brian Scott | |
Albertsons Co. / White Tail | 186.176 | 38.673 | –0.473 |
| 22 | 16 | Greg Biffle | |
Ford EcoBoost Ford Fusion | 186.075 | 38.694 | –0.494 |
| 23 | 13 | Casey Mears | |
GEICO | 185.773 | 38.757 | –0.557 |
| 24 | 14 | Brian Vickers | |
Janssen Arnie’s Army Charitable Foundation Chevrolet SS | 185.581 | 38.797 | –0.597 |
| 25 | 43 | Aric Almirola | |
Smithfield | 186.398 | 38.627 | –0.427 |
| 26 | 41 | Kurt Busch | |
Haas Automation / Monster Energy | 186.095 | 38.690 | –0.490 |
| 27 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | |
Nationwide / Batman | 186.080 | 38.693 | –0.493 |
| 28 | 7 | Regan Smith | |
AIPAC | 185.696 | 38.773 | –0.573 |
| 29 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | |
Visine | 185.639 | 38.785 | –0.585 |
| 30 | 95 | Michael McDowell | |
WRL General Contractors | 185.486 | 38.817 | –0.617 |
| 31 | 10 | Danica Patrick | |
TaxAct | 185.099 | 38.898 | –0.698 |
| 32 | 42 | Kyle Larson | |
Target | 184.990 | 38.921 | –0.721 |
| 33 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | |
Cosmo Motors | 184.611 | 39.001 | –0.801 |
| 34 | 38 | Landon Cassill | |
MDS Transport | 184.186 | 39.091 | –0.891 |
| 35 | 23 | David Ragan | |
Dr. Pepper | 183.052 | 39.333 | –1.133 |
| 36 | 98 | Cole Whitt | |
Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters Chevy | 182.348 | 39.485 | –1.285 |
| 37 | 30 | Josh Wise | |
SBC Contractors | 181.951 | 39.571 | –1.371 |
| 38 | 46 | Michael Annett | |
Pilot Flying J | 180.610 | 39.865 | –1.665 |
| 39 | 32 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | |
Can – Am | 180.415 | 39.908 | –1.708 |
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