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 12th 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 25th, 26th 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:
| Position | No. | Driver | Sponsor |
| 1 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Dollar General Toyota |
| 2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Wurth Ford |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe’s Spring is Calling Chevrolet |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Jimmy John’s Chevrolet |
| 5 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | PEAK Toyota |
| 6 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet |
| 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | AAA Southern California Ford |
| 8 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | DeWalt Ford |
| 9 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Subway Ford |
| 10 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet |
| 11 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Target Chevrolet |
| 12 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Chevrolet |
| 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Express Toyota |
| 14 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Interstate Batteries Toyota |
| 15 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | National Guard Chevrolet |
| 16 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Caterpillar Chevrolet |
| 17 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Haas Automation Chevrolet |
| 18 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Charter Chevrolet |
| 19 | 55 | Brian Vickers | TreatMyClot.com/Aaron’s Toyota |
| 20 | 3 | Austin Dillon # | Cheerios Chevrolet |
| 21 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Farmland Ford |
| 22 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford EcoBoost Ford |
| 23 | 7 | Michael Annett # | Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet |
| 24 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 3M Aerospace Ford |
| 25 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | McDonald’s Chevrolet |
| 26 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Time Warner Cable Chevrolet |
| 27 | 10 | Danica Patrick | GoDaddy/Get Found Chevrolet |
| 28 | 51 | Justin Allgaier # | Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet |
| 29 | 38 | David Gilliland | Love’s Travel Stops Ford |
| 30 | 27 | Matt Crafton (i) | Duracell/Menards Chevrolet |
| 31 | 13 | Casey Mears | GEICO Chevrolet |
| 32 | 30 | Parker Kligerman # | Swan Energy Toyota |
| 33 | 35 | David Reutimann | MDS Transport Ford |
| 34 | 26 | Cole Whitt # | Swan Energy Toyota |
| 35 | 32 | Travis Kvapil | SK Hand Tools Ford |
| 36 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet |
| 37 | 33 | Brian Scott (i) | Whitetail Chevrolet |
| 38 | 98 | Josh Wise | Trench Shoring Company Chevrolet |
| 39 | 23 | Alex Bowman # | Dr.Pepper Toyota |
| 40 | 83 | Ryan Truex # | Borla Exhaust Toyota |
| 41 | 34 | David Ragan | Taco Bell Ford |
| 42 | 66 | Joe Nemechek (i) | Land Castle Title Toyota |
| 43 | 40 | Landon Cassill (i) | CRC Brakleen/FiberLock Chevrolet |
# Rookie
(i) Ineligible for Driver Points
Matt Kenseth Earns Pole Position for Auto Club 400
Matt Kenseth and Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) won the pole for this Sunday’s Auto Club 400. It is the 2003 series champion’s 12th career pole and his first at this speedway. For JGR, it will be their 74th time leading the field to the green flag. Brad Keselowski will start alongside; the fourth week in succession that he’s qualified 2nd or higher. The first three positions are all held by former champions, with five-time Auto Club Speedway winner Jimmie Johnson starting 3rd.
ROUND 1
Round 1 went on without any incidents, but certainly wasn’t void of on-track action. With just 35 seconds left in the 25 minute session, Carl Edwards booted Roush-Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle out of the top 12. Biffle responded in dramatic fashion by jumping from 25th to 17th as the clock ran out. Jamie McMurray was the unfortunate driver knocked out by Biffle’s final run at the top 24.
ROUND 2
With a handful of minutes remaining in Round 2, JGR teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin sat on the bubble. Both failed to hang on and were displaced by Ford rivals Marcos Ambrose and Carl Edwards. Kyle attempted to fight his way back into the final twelve but nearly ended up finding the wall instead. ROTY contender Michael Annett was a new face in Round 2, and ultimately placed 23rd; the best starting position of his young career.
ROUND 3
Gordon, Kenseth, Larson, Johnson, Bowyer, Edwards, Logano, Harvick, Stewart, Keselowski, Ambrose, & Truex Jr. were the twelve lucky drivers that gained entry into the final round of qualifying. Kevin Harvick led for the majority of the five minute session but with just 90 seconds left, he was dethroned by Matt Kenseth. As the red flag flew and the timer struck zero, Carl Edwards looked to, for the third time today, make a last ditch effort to steal the show once again.
He did indeed steal the show, but for all the wrong reasons. He rocketed through the final corner in the green, faster than Kenseth, but pushed too hard and caught the wall with the right side. He will instead start 9th. Front row ace Brad Keselowski was the final driver to post a time and ended up just four hundredths off the top, officially placing 2nd. Keselowski, Logano, and Johnson are the only three drivers to make it into the pole-decider round of every knock-out qualifying session in 2014.
Complete Starting Lineup
42.) Joe Nemechek #66
43.) Landon Cassill #40
