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Marcos Ambrose captured the pole for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma, CA with a lap of 95.262 MPH, 75.203 seconds around the 1.99-mile road course for his second pole in a row.
“’We put a lot of effort into this road course program. I’m thrilled for my team and it takes a whole team to qualify on pole two weeks in a row.” Ambrose said.
Jeff Gordon had the fastest lap during the first practice session and was the last one to qualify. Gordon just missed the pole with a lap of 95.067 MPH.
“I thought it was a really good lap. To pick up from practice and have a good day like we did all day today with the Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet. You’ve got to give credit where credit is due Marcos (Ambrose) laid down a heck of a lap. We came up just a little bit short.” Gordon said.
Jimmie Johnson qualified third, Greg Biffle fourth and Martin Truex Jr. qualified fifth.
Last weeks winner at Michigan, Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 19th.
“We had a little more speed than that for qualifying. The car was pretty comfortable. I think I was too conservative with my driving. But, it never helps when you spin out the run before the last run of practice (smiles); that knocks some time out of you.” Earnhardt Jr. said.
| Starting Lineup | |||||
| Toyota/Save Mart 350, Sonoma, CA | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=16 | |||||
| =========================================== | |||||
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Make | Speed | Time |
| =========================================== | |||||
| 1 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 95.262 | 75.203 |
| 2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 95.067 | 75.357 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 94.795 | 75.574 |
| 4 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 94.722 | 75.632 |
| 5 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 94.686 | 75.661 |
| 6 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 94.679 | 75.666 |
| 7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 94.632 | 75.704 |
| 8 | 51 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 94.557 | 75.764 |
| 9 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 94.524 | 75.79 |
| 10 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 94.509 | 75.802 |
| 11 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 94.503 | 75.807 |
| 12 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | 94.319 | 75.955 |
| 13 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | 94.269 | 75.995 |
| 14 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | 94.209 | 76.044 |
| 15 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 94.206 | 76.046 |
| 16 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 94.199 | 76.052 |
| 17 | 22 | AJ Allmendinger | Dodge | 94.184 | 76.064 |
| 18 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | 94.103 | 76.129 |
| 19 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 94.026 | 76.192 |
| 20 | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | 93.991 | 76.22 |
| 21 | 55 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | 93.949 | 76.254 |
| 22 | 195 | Scott Speed | Ford | 93.913 | 76.283 |
| 23 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 93.84 | 76.343 |
| 24 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 93.824 | 76.356 |
| 25 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 93.732 | 76.431 |
| 26 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 93.728 | 76.434 |
| 27 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 93.524 | 76.601 |
| 28 | 32 | Boris Said | Ford | 93.268 | 76.811 |
| 29 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | 93.166 | 76.895 |
| 30 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 93.153 | 76.906 |
| 31 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | 93.064 | 76.979 |
| 32 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | 92.964 | 77.062 |
| 33 | 98 | David Mayhew | Ford | 92.833 | 77.171 |
| 34 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | 92.563 | 77.396 |
| 35 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | 92.459 | 77.483 |
| 36 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | 92.14 | 77.751 |
| 37 | 119 | Chris Cook | Toyota | 92.076 | 77.805 |
| 38 | 249 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | 91.927 | 77.931 |
| 39 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | 91.836 | 78.009 |
| 40 | 26 | Josh Wise* | Ford | 91.729 | 78.1 |
| 41 | 10 | Tomy Drissi+ | Chevrolet | 90.579 | 79.091 |
| 42 | 83 | Landon Cassill+ | Toyota | 89.341 | 80.187 |
| 43 | 33 | Stephen Leicht* | Chevrolet | 91.686 | 78.136 |
