Juan Pablo Montoya captured the pole for the Brickyard 400 after posting the quickest lap in Saturday’s qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Montoya edged defending race winner Jimmie Johnson for the pole with a lap of 182.278 m.p.h. The 34-year-old Colombian claimed his second pole of the season and the fourth of his Sprint Cup Series career. Montoya was fastest in both practice sessions on Friday at Indy MiamiHerald.com
“It’s too bad we didn’t take the trophy home (in 2009), but in my mind I think anybody that is in that team knows that we had the fastest car and we had the pace to win the race,” Montoya said.
Montoya won the Indianapolis 500 here, and if he wins on Sunday, he will give team co-owner Chip Ganassi an almost unheard of triple crown: victories in the Daytona 500, the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same season.
“It would be really cool winning here,” said Montoya, who has yet to win a Sprint Cup race on an oval track. “I’ve won already the (Indianapolis) 500. They asked me that earlier and to tell you the truth, right now, in a Cup car, I will take a win in Martinsville or Pocono; I don’t care. I’ll take a win anywhere. I want to win, and as a team we’re working really hard for it.” FOXNews
“It’s a pretty special thing to come back here each year,” Ganassi said. “This is where racing started and where obviously my career got jump-started, if you will.
“Good performance today by the team and the driver. It’s a long day, and we have a lot of things to do yet. This is just one step in a long flight of steep stairs for the weekend.”
Johnson will start alongside Montoya after posting a lap of 182.142 in the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. Mark Martin will start third in the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet after a lap of 181.803. McMurray qualified fourth in the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet at 181.748.
Among the drivers with Indiana ties, Ryan Newman was fastest with a fifth-place qualifying effort at 181.741 in the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet.
Johnson was intent on avoiding the sorts of mistakes he had made during Friday’s practice.
“I was really proud of what I did, because [Friday] I continued to make mistakes,” Johnson said. “I was getting three of the four corners right and couldn’t get all four right. So I made sure [Saturday] that I did my job—and maybe left a little bit on the table, because I wanted to be very line-specific and not make a mistake.”
Greg Biffle, the only non-Chevy driver in the top 10, put his No. 16 Ford in the seventh starting position with a lap at 181.353 mph. Jeff Gordon, Cup points leader Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton completed the top 10. NASCAR.com
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis - Race Line-Up
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