Denny Hamlin may not be as hot as Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson or Juan Pablo Montoya, but the Chaser certainly kept stride with his fellow title contenders Friday by winning the pole for Sunday’s Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway.
Hamlin, wheeling the No. 11 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing, turned a lap of 183.870 mph and will start alongside fellow Chaser Greg Biffle for the fourth race of The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title. AHN
David Reutimann, who is not in the Chase, qualified second, but his time was disallowed after his Toyota failed post-qualifying inspection. NASCAR confiscated Reutimann’s rear shocks after the gas level in the shocks were found to be too high. He will start 42nd.
Therefore, Greg Biffle will start second, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya. All three are Chase drivers. Johnson, a native of nearby El Cajon, CA, won last year’s fall race at his hometrack. MiamiHerald.com
POS CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 2 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 4 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 5 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 6 20 Joey Logano* Toyota 7 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 8 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 9 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 10 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 11 99 Carl Edwards Ford 12 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 13 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota 14 12 David Stremme Dodge 15 113 Max Papis* Toyota 16 7 Casey Mears Chevrolet 17 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 18 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 19 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 20 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 21 82 Scott Speed* Toyota 22 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 23 9 Mike Bliss Dodge 24 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 25 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 26 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 27 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 28 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge 29 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 30 171 David Gilliland Chevrolet 31 6 David Ragan Ford 32 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 33 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 34 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 35 96 Bobby Labonte Ford 36 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 37 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 38 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 39 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 40 34 John Andretti Chevrolet 41 98 Paul Menard+ Ford 42 0 David Reutimann+ Toyota 43 36 Michael McDowell Toyota
| 
|