Will Rodgers ran a 79.081 time to snag the pole for this afternoon’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race for the Carneros 200 at Sonoma Raceway. The race is set to start later today at 4:30 p.m. EDT.
After setting a blistering pace in qualifying by almost a full second faster than the rest of the field, Rodgers will claim his second consecutive pole at the 1.99 mile road course and second career pole in the Pro West division. Last year, he earned the pole and a runner-up finish to teammate and NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series champion, Kevin Harvick.
Bill Kann, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, ran in the second group after running 17th in practice, but had catastrophic engine issues, putting out the yellow flag for their qualifying session.
Rodgers, along with all five NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series drivers, started in the third and final group of qualifying. All three qualifying groups were set by practice times. Rodgers and William Byron were the only two drivers to run an average of over 90 mph around the circuit.
The five Cup Series drivers will start as follows:
- Erik Jones starts P13.
- Alex Bowman starts P7.
- William Byron starts P2.
- Aric Almirola starts P5.
- Daniel Suarez starts P6.
Hailie Deegan, who struggled to find a quick lap in qualifying, put down a fast lap and will start in the third position for the race as the fastest rookie in the No. 19 Mobil 1 / NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota. She was also the fastest in the second group of qualifying and currently sits seventh in the points standings.
All three of the NASCAR Next drivers in this afternoon’s field will start in the top-10: Will Rodgers on pole, Hailie Deegan in third and Derek Kraus in the eighth spot. Derek Kraus, driver of the No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, was last year’s rookie of the year and has earned two career victories in the West series.
The rest of the top-10 starting results are Ryan Partridge in fourth, Derek Thorn in ninth and Kody Vanderwal in tenth.
