Matt Kenseth Wins the Pole for the Auto Club 400 at Fontana

Kenseth conquered Knockout Qualifying and drove his No. 20 Dollar General Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to first place at Auto Club Speedway, earning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Coors Light Pole Award with a speed of 187.315 mph. It was his 12^th career pole and his first pole at this track.

When asked the importance of track position, Kenseth responded by saying, “Track position is important everywhere. This is probably one of the best tracks we go to though, as far as passing.” He continued saying, “There’s a lot of options here, this place is really wide. It’s very challenging as a driver but very fun as well.”

His car was consistently fast all day in practice and qualifying. Kenseth was scored fourth quickest in the first elimination round, second in the next round and captured the top qualifying spot in the final round.

Notable drivers that did not advance to the second round include McMurray, Kahne and Danica Patrick who qualified 25^th, 26^th and 27th. Those not advancing to the final round include Denny Hamlin (13), Kyle Busch (14), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (15), Ryan Newman (16) and Kurt Busch (17).

Brad Keselowski will start on the outside pole for the Auto Club 400, his fourth consecutive start on the front row.

“We’ve got a lot of great momentum going,” he said, “so we’ve got to keep it up. Obviously qualifying up front is always fun and always a great start to the weekend. But there’s more to be done in the race.”

Jimmie Johnson, Harvick, Bowyer, Gordon and Logano will begin in positions three through seven respectively. Rounding out the top twelve are Marcos Ambrose, Edwards, Stewart, rookie Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr.

The Auto Club 400 race will consist of 200 laps/400 miles. It will be televised on FOX with race coverage beginning Sunday at 3:00 pm. The green flag is scheduled to drop at approximately 3:18 pm.

The complete starting lineup for the Auto Club 400:

#  Rookie

(i) Ineligible for Driver Points