NASCAR Cup
Fontana Auto Club Speedway qualifying notes
FAST TIMES CONTINUE FOR RED-HOT JAMIE MCMURRAY SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CALIF. (Feb. 19, 2010) -- Just five days after his victorious run to the Daytona 500 title, Jamie McMurray (No. 1 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet) landed the Coors ...
Published: Feb 21, 2010, 11:21 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
FAST TIMES CONTINUE FOR RED-HOT JAMIE MCMURRAY
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CALIF. (Feb. 19, 2010) -- Just five days after his victorious run to the Daytona 500 title, Jamie McMurray (No. 1 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet) landed the Coors Light Pole Award Friday with a blazing two-mile lap of 39.185 seconds (183.744 miles per hour) at Auto Club Speedway.
Apparently not fatigued by his cross-country victory tour -- which included an appearance on CBS' "Late Show" with David Letterman in New York and a double-decker bus tour through Los Angeles with a select group of Auto Club Speedway season ticket holders -- McMurray earned the lead spot for Sunday's Auto Club 500 and his first in 14 races at the Auto Club Speedway.
"I thought our car was a little bit too tight to have a chance to be on the pole," said McMurray, who nabbed his fourth pole in 260 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. "I am still amazed at the week I've had and to come here and to be on the pole I just really can't believe it. It's pretty awesome."
McMurray's Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammate Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Target Chevrolet) will start in the No. 2 spot. He finished his lap at 183.477 mph. "It was good. We had a really good car," Montoya said. "Chevy motors run great. Both cars run amazing so I'm very happy. I thought this year I had it. I knew I was going to get really close to the wall. I said I have a good race car I don't want to scratch it."
It was the second Top 10 start of 2010 and his third in seven races at Auto Club Speedway. It also marked the first time that the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates has claimed both front row starting positions.
Clint Bowyer (No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet) posted his fifth Top 10 start at Auto Club Speedway and his second in two races this season. He will start in the third spot Sunday and finished Friday at 183.127 mph. "It was a good way to start the season," Bowyer said. "When you go out first you don't expect to be third, but when you sit on the pole as long as I was it's easy to get greedy. I'm very proud of our efforts so far. Hopefully, we can get out there and get some practice runs in because I'd really like to see that outside groove."
Starting alongside Bowyer on Row 2 Sunday will be Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Budweiser / Team USA) at 182.913 mph. Completing the top five was Dave Blaney (No. 66 Prism Motorsports Toyota) at 182.908 mph.
Kevin Conway (No. 37 Extenze Ford) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Three drivers failed to qualify: Johnny Sauter (No. 35 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet), Casey Mears (No. 90 Keyed-Up Motorsports Chevrolet) and Terry Cook (No. 46 Whitney Motorsports Dodge).
-source: acs
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Standings after Daytona 500
Next article Fontana: Final practice times
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Clint Bowyer
The wildest fights in modern NASCAR Cup history
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Bristol II
The wildest fights in modern NASCAR Cup history
Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray to make surprise NASCAR return with Ram
NASCAR Truck
NASCAR Truck
Texas
Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray to make surprise NASCAR return with Ram
Clint Bowyer: "It’s time to allow somebody else to have fun”
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Clint Bowyer: "It’s time to allow somebody else to have fun”
More from
Chip Ganassi Racing
Five-time IndyCar champion, first-time Indy NXT driver: Alex Palou tops IMS road course test
Indy NXT
Indy NXT
Five-time IndyCar champion, first-time Indy NXT driver: Alex Palou tops IMS road course test
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
IndyCar
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS
IndyCar
IndyCar
Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS
Latest news
Marc Marquez: ‘Jorge Martin rides on instinct; he just attacks, and that’s his strength’
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
24 min
Marc Marquez: ‘Jorge Martin rides on instinct; he just attacks, and that’s his strength’
Lamborghini Super Trofeo | North America, Race 2: Bamber dominates to take the win
Lamborghini Super Trofeo
LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo
World Finals - Monza 2026
26 min
Lamborghini Super Trofeo | North America, Race 2: Bamber dominates to take the win
Belgian firm to take over Renault/Alpine engine facility in Viry
WEC
WEC WEC 54 min
Belgian firm to take over Renault/Alpine engine facility in Viry
Jorge Martin the slowest Aprilia in Australia practice: “I'm used to riding with the Ducati here”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Jorge Martin the slowest Aprilia in Australia practice: “I'm used to riding with the Ducati here”
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe