Matt Kenseth has taken the Coors Light Pole Award at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana with Brad Keselowski keeping Penske’s hot form in qualifying going with the next quickest time.
Kenseth posted a speed of 301.455 kmh (187.315 mph) to earn his first pole at the southern California track.
Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer round out the top five starting line-up.
Australia’s Marcos Ambrose backed-up his fifth place in qualifying at Bristol last week with the eighth quickest time today. Ambrose went on to finish fifth in that race. It’s the Tasmanian’s third top-10 qualifying position in the five races contested after he started the Daytona 500 in seventh.
“It was a great day for us. This has been a tough track for RPM (Richard Petty Motorsports) the last couple years and had enough speed to get ourselves in the final 12 and put down another good lap,” said Ambrose.
“I am proud of the efforts for Stanley and Ford and everyone with the program. It has been a really good day.”
His focus is on NASCAR right now, but Ambrose has been mentioned as a target by Penske if they come into V8 Supercars in the future.
Denny Hamlin, who won the pole for last spring’s race at Auto Club, qualified 13th, just missing a chance to qualify in the last round.
Kyle Busch won at Fontana last year and qualified 14th for this year’s race.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400 will be on mid-morning Monday eastern Australian time.
VIDEO: Kenseth scores California pole
QUALIFYING: Auto Club 400
|
POS |
Car # |
Driver |
Make |
Sponsor |
MPH |
Best Time |
Behind |
|
1 |
20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | Dollar General | 187.315 | 38.438 | Leader |
|
2 |
2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | Wurth | 187.105 | 38.481 | –0.043 |
|
3 |
48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s “Spring is Calling”. | 186.935 | 38.516 | –0.078 |
|
4 |
4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Jimmy John’s | 186.901 | 38.523 | –0.085 |
|
5 |
15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | PEAK | 186.461 | 38.614 | –0.176 |
|
6 |
24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 186.384 | 38.630 | –0.192 |
|
7 |
22 | Joey Logano | Ford | AAA So. California | 186.273 | 38.653 | –0.215 |
|
8 |
9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | DeWalt | 186.013 | 38.707 | –0.269 |
|
9 |
99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Subway | 185.878 | 38.735 | –0.297 |
|
10 |
14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 | 185.792 | 38.753 | –0.315 |
|
11 |
42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | Target | 185.773 | 38.757 | –0.319 |
|
12 |
78 | Martin Truex Jr | Chevrolet | Furniture Row | 185.725 | 38.767 | –0.329 |
|
13 |
11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Express | 185.323 | 38.851 | –0.413 |
|
14 |
18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Interstate Batteries | 185.314 | 38.853 | –0.415 |
|
15 |
88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | National Guard | 185.290 | 38.858 | –0.420 |
|
16 |
31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 185.209 | 38.875 | –0.437 |
|
17 |
41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | Haas Automation | 185.166 | 38.884 | –0.446 |
|
18 |
47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | Charter | 184.715 | 38.979 | –0.541 |
|
19 |
55 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | TreatMyClot.com-Aaron’s | 184.521 | 39.020 | –0.582 |
|
20 |
3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | Cheerios | 183.960 | 39.139 | –0.701 |
|
21 |
43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Farmland | 183.955 | 39.140 | –0.702 |
|
22 |
17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | Ford EcoBoost | 183.861 | 39.160 | –0.722 |
|
23 |
7 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | Pilot / Flying J Chevrolet | 183.491 | 39.239 | –0.801 |
|
24 |
16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M Aerospace | 185.095 | 38.899 | –0.461 |
|
25 |
1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | McDonald’s | 184.525 | 39.019 | –0.581 |
|
26 |
5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Time Warner Cable | 184.322 | 39.062 | –0.624 |
|
27 |
10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | GoDaddy/Get Found | 184.299 | 39.067 | –0.629 |
|
28 |
51 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | BRANDT Professional Agriculture | 183.983 | 39.134 | –0.696 |
|
29 |
38 | David Gilliland | Ford | Love’s Travel Stops | 183.922 | 39.147 | –0.709 |
|
30 |
27 | Matt Crafton | Chevrolet | Duracell / Menards | 183.641 | 39.207 | –0.769 |
|
31 |
13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS | 183.580 | 39.220 | –0.782 |
|
32 |
30 | Parker Kligerman | Toyota | Swan Energy | 182.918 | 39.362 | –0.924 |
|
33 |
35 | David Reutimann | Ford | MDS Transport | 182.219 | 39.513 | –1.075 |
|
34 |
26 | Cole Whitt | Toyota | Swan Energy | 181.525 | 39.664 | –1.226 |
|
35 |
32 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | SK Hand Tools | 181.507 | 39.668 | –1.230 |
|
36 |
36 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | TBA | 181.365 | 39.699 | –1.261 |
|
37 |
33 | Brian Scott | Chevrolet | Whitetail | 181.246 | 39.725 | –1.287 |
|
38 |
98 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | Trench Shoring Company | 181.059 | 39.766 | –1.328 |
|
39 |
83 | Ryan Truex | Toyota | Borla Exhaust Toyota Camry | 180.659 | 39.854 | –1.416 |
|
40 |
23 | Alex Bowman | Toyota | Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry | 180.619 | 39.863 | –1.425 |
|
41 |
34 | David Ragan | Ford | Taco Bell | 180.284 | 39.937 | –1.499 |
|
42 |
66 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | Land Castle Title | 180.009 | 39.998 | –1.560 |
|
43 |
40 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | CRC Brakleen-FiberLock | 0.000 | 0.000 | -38.438 |
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