Ford Fusion drivers Matt Kenseth, AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose have swept the top three positions in qualifying for the penultimate race of the 2011 Sprint Cup season.
Kenseth lapped the re-profiled Phoenix International Raceway in 26.26s to beat Allmendinger by a substantial 0.13s.
Mark Martin was fourth fastest, from Martin Truex, Jamie McMurray, David Reutimann, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne.
Qualifying saw most drivers run approximately a second slower than their earlier practice efforts, with warmer track conditions blamed for the lack of speed.
See below for the full qualifying result
|
POS |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
TIME |
BEHIND |
| 1 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Crown Royal | 26.258 | Leader |
| 2 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Wix Filters | 26.384 | -0.126 |
| 3 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Dewalt | 26.411 | -0.153 |
| 4 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 26.455 | -0.197 |
| 5 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 26.455 | -0.197 |
| 6 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | McDonald’s | 26.469 | -0.211 |
| 7 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Tums | 26.473 | -0.215 |
| 8 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Mobil 1 | 26.488 | -0.230 |
| 9 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 26.529 | -0.271 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | Red Bull | 26.534 | -0.276 |
| 11 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Peak / Menards | 26.547 | -0.289 |
| 12 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 26.585 | -0.327 |
| 13 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS My Choice | 26.588 | -0.330 |
| 14 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar Global Mining | 26.608 | -0.350 |
| 15 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 26.613 | -0.355 |
| 16 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools | 26.618 | -0.360 |
| 17 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 26.622 | -0.364 |
| 18 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 26.624 | -0.366 |
| 19 | Cole Whitt | Toyota | Red Bull Racing Team | 26.625 | -0.367 |
| 20 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | Speed Energy | 26.630 | -0.372 |
| 21 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | Thank A Teacher Today | 26.631 | -0.373 |
| 22 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Retro Diet Mountain Dew | 26.634 | -0.376 |
| 23 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont | 26.689 | -0.431 |
| 24 | Scott Speed | Ford | Green Stuff Absorbent | 26.694 | -0.436 |
| 25 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 26.696 | -0.438 |
| 26 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 26.704 | -0.446 |
| 27 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Budweiser | 26.715 | -0.457 |
| 28 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Cheerios “Send Cheer” / Hamburger Helper | 26.751 | -0.493 |
| 29 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M / Meguiars | 26.756 | -0.498 |
| 30 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | U.S. Army Veterans Day Tribute | 26.764 | -0.506 |
| 31 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Wounded Warrior Project / Clorox | 26.793 | -0.535 |
| 32 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | NEMCO Motorsports | 26.837 | -0.579 |
| 33 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Freight | 26.850 | -0.592 |
| 34 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Interstate Batteries | 26.936 | -0.678 |
| 35 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | HP Racing LLC | 26.979 | -0.721 |
| 36 | Mike Skinner | Ford | Max Q Motorsports | 27.023 | -0.765 |
| 37 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Aloft Hotels | 27.040 | -0.782 |
| 38 | Casey Mears | Toyota | GEICO | 27.062 | -0.804 |
| 39 | Mike Bliss | Ford | Veterans United Home Loans | 27.184 | -0.926 |
| 40 | Geoffrey Bodine | Chevrolet | Luke & Associates | 27.417 | -1.159 |
| 41 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | Vampt | 27.911 | -1.653 |
| 42 | David Gilliland | Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 29.252 | -2.994 |
| 43 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Big Red | 27.157 | -0.899 |
| 44 | Scott Riggs | Toyota | North Texas Pipe | 27.336 | -1.078 |
| 45 | David Stremme | Chevrolet | Inception Motorsports | 27.355 | -1.097 |
| 46 | Andy Lally | Ford | TRG Motorsports | 28.215 | -1.957 |
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