McMurray wins pole in California

Jamie McMurray

CIA Stock Photo

Jamie McMurray stayed hot Friday in California after winning the Daytona 500 by going out and taking the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway (ACS).

McMurray posted a lap of 183.744 mph for his first pole at ACS and the fourth of career. He will be joined on the front row by his Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. It marks the first time the team has claimed both front row starting positions.

"Honestly, I am so amazed at the week I've had and then to come here and to be able to be on the pole, I really can't believe it," McMurray said. "It's pretty awesome."

Montoya, who is coming off his first top 10 at Auto Club after leading 78 laps last October, recorded a lap of 183.477 mph for his third top-10 start in six starts at ACS.

"We had a really good car," Montoya said. "For teammates to be up front like that, it’s incredible. The Chevy motors run great."

Clint Bowyer went out first in qualifying and held the top spot for a majority of the session with a lap of 183.127 mph.

"We ran a lot of practice in race trim and I think we have a really good car," Bowyer said. "We were pretty pleased with it before we switched over to qualifying trim."

Kasey Kahne (182.913) qualified fourth with Dave Blaney rounding out the top five with an impressive lap of 182.908 mph among the drivers required to qualify on time.

Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Sam Hornish Jr., Kyle Busch and Mark Martin, who topped the first practice session, rounded out the top 10.

Results

+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie