Juan Montoya has made the most of favourable track conditions to snare pole for Pennsylvania 400 Cup race at Pocono Raceway.
Montoya turned a lap at the 2.5-mile triangular track in 51.124 seconds (176.043 mph) and waited as the fastest cars from Friday’s first practice session failed to unseat him from the top spot. The Coors Light Pole Award was the Colombian driver’s first of the season, his first at Pocono and the eighth of his career.
“To be honest with you, I’m not sure if I’m more shocked that we’re on the pole right now — with how the last few races have been for us and how our season’s been — or that we’re on the pole at Pocono,” said Montoya.
“This is a place where I normally struggle in qualifying.
Australia’s Marcos Ambrose also enjoyed a solid qualifying run and will start his Ford from fifth.
“It is hard you only have one lap,” said Ambrose.
“We struggled a little bit and made some changes. I was pretty free in turn one and lost all my time there. I feel like I got the rest of the lap pretty good.
“This place is definitely a challenge. It’s a tough track to get a handle on.”
RACE LINEUP : Pennsylvania 400 | Pocono Raceway
|
POS |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
MPH |
TIME |
| 1 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 176.043 | 51.124 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Ground | 175.795 | -0.072 |
| 3 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Menards / Serta | 175.627 | -0.121 |
| 4 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Farmers Insurance | 175.439 | -0.176 |
| 5 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Stanley | 175.432 | -0.178 |
| 6 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction Services | 175.339 | -0.205 |
| 7 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Zest | 175.169 | -0.255 |
| 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Diet Mountain Dew / AMP Energy / National Guard | 175.131 | -0.266 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Haas Automation / Quicken Loans | 175.097 | -0.276 |
| 10 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s | 175.067 | -0.285 |
| 11 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / Farm American | 175.036 | -0.294 |
| 12 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M | 174.964 | -0.315 |
| 13 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Automotive Lift Institute | 174.805 | -0.362 |
| 14 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 174.795 | -0.365 |
| 15 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 174.618 | -0.417 |
| 16 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Allstate | 174.561 | -0.434 |
| 17 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Fastenal | 174.432 | -0.472 |
| 18 | Mark Martin | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 174.419 | -0.476 |
| 19 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-hour Energy | 174.314 | -0.507 |
| 20 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M’s | 174.277 | -0.518 |
| 21 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Budweiser | 174.213 | -0.537 |
| 22 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 174.162 | -0.552 |
| 23 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Enersys / Odyssey Battery | 173.920 | -0.624 |
| 24 | David Reutimann | Chevrolet | TMone.com | 173.571 | -0.728 |
| 25 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 173.524 | -0.742 |
| 26 | David Gilliland | Ford | ModSpace | 173.410 | -0.776 |
| 27 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 173.300 | -0.809 |
| 28 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot “Back to School” | 173.197 | -0.840 |
| 29 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 172.864 | -0.940 |
| 30 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | Plinker Tactical | 172.619 | -1.014 |
| 31 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 172.371 | -1.089 |
| 32 | David Ragan | Ford | Taco Bell | 172.038 | -1.190 |
| 33 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | North Texas Pipe | 171.917 | -1.227 |
| 34 | Josh Wise* | Ford | MDS Transport | 171.913 | -1.228 |
| 35 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | Max Q Motorsports | 171.808 | -1.260 |
| 36 | David Stremme | Toyota | Inception Motorsports | 171.638 | -1.312 |
| 37 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 171.246 | -1.432 |
| 38 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves | 170.804 | -1.568 |
| 39 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Scott Products | 170.658 | -1.613 |
| 40 | Reed Sorenson | Ford | Plinker Tactical | 170.581 | -1.637 |
| 41 | Jason White+ | Ford | Zaxby’s | 167.876 | -2.487 |
| 42 | Tony Raines+ | Chevrolet | @TMone / CRM Hiring Veterans | – | – |
| 43 | Mike Skinner | Ford | TRAQM.com | 170.516 | -1.657 |
| DNQ | Stephen Leicht* | Chevrolet | Little Joes Autos.com | 170.487 | -1.666 |
+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie
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