Hamlin wins pole in Fontana
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| Denny Hamlin |
Denny Hamlin streaked around 2-mile Auto Club Speedway in 39.158 seconds (183.870 mph) to win the pole for Sunday's Pepsi 500 in decisive fashion. The third driver to make a qualifying attempt, Hamlin posted his lap and waited as the top three drivers in Friday's practice session (speeds) — Juan Montoya, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin — took their best shots and fell short.
Temporarily, David Reutimann (183.108 mph) claimed the second starting spot in Friday's time trials, but Reutimann's time was subsequently disallowed after NASCAR found during post-qualifying inspection that the rear shock absorbers on his No. 00 Toyota exceeded NASCAR's gas-level limit.
NASCAR confiscated both rear shocks, but NASCAR spokesperson Ramsey Poston said the sanctioning body would not impose additional penalties beyond disallowing the time.
Greg Biffle (182.704 mph) earned the third position and moved up to the outside of the front row after Reutimann's disqualification. Johnson (182.635 mph) and Montoya (182. 315 mph) qualified fourth and fifth, respectively. With Reutimann starting 42nd on an owner points provisional because of the disallowed time, Johnson moved up to the third position and Montoya to the fourth.
Results
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Ground | 183.870 | 39.158 | Leader |
| 2 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M Scotch-Blue Painter's Tape | 182.704 | 39.408 | -0.250 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's / Jimmie Johnson Foundation | 182.635 | 39.423 | -0.265 |
| 4 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 182.315 | 39.492 | -0.334 |
| 5 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | Guitar Hero 5 | 182.246 | 39.507 | -0.349 |
| 6 | 20 | Joey Logano* | Toyota | The Home Depot | 182.223 | 39.512 | -0.354 |
| 7 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Shell / Pennzoil | 182.182 | 39.521 | -0.363 |
| 8 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Prilosec OTC / Wal-Mart | 182.002 | 39.560 | -0.402 |
| 9 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | Kellogg's / Carquest | 181.979 | 39.565 | -0.407 |
| 10 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Pepsi / DuPont | 181.717 | 39.622 | -0.464 |
| 11 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 181.644 | 39.638 | -0.480 |
| 12 | 44 | A.J. Allmendinger | Dodge | Dassault Systemes | 181.420 | 39.687 | -0.529 |
| 13 | 187 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | NEMCO Motorsports | 181.383 | 39.695 | -0.537 |
| 14 | 12 | David Stremme | Dodge | Penske Racing | 181.346 | 39.703 | -0.545 |
| 15 | 113 | Max Papis* | Toyota | GEICO | 181.305 | 39.712 | -0.554 |
| 16 | 07 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | Jack Daniel's | 181.214 | 39.732 | -0.574 |
| 17 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | R+L Carriers | 181.137 | 39.749 | -0.591 |
| 18 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 181.096 | 39.758 | -0.600 |
| 19 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M's | 181.032 | 39.772 | -0.614 |
| 20 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Old Spice | 180.968 | 39.786 | -0.628 |
| 21 | 82 | Scott Speed* | Toyota | Red Bull | 180.945 | 39.791 | -0.633 |
| 22 | 77 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Mobil 1 | 180.868 | 39.808 | -0.650 |
| 23 | 09 | Mike Bliss | Dodge | Miccosukee Resort & Gaming | 180.846 | 39.813 | -0.655 |
| 24 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Miller Lite | 180.773 | 39.829 | -0.671 |
| 25 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Dodge | Budweiser | 180.741 | 39.836 | -0.678 |
| 26 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 180.650 | 39.856 | -0.698 |
| 27 | 47 | Marcos Ambrose | Toyota | Little Debbie / Kingsford / Clorox | 180.632 | 39.860 | -0.702 |
| 28 | 43 | Reed Sorenson | Dodge | Rosie's Organic Chicken | 180.591 | 39.869 | -0.711 |
| 29 | 26 | Jamie McMurray | Ford | Crown Royal | 180.523 | 39.884 | -0.726 |
| 30 | 171 | David Gilliland | Chevrolet | TRG Motorsports | 180.523 | 39.884 | -0.726 |
| 31 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS | 180.510 | 39.887 | -0.729 |
| 32 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 180.288 | 39.936 | -0.778 |
| 33 | 66 | Dave Blaney | Toyota | Prism Motorsports | 180.144 | 39.968 | -0.810 |
| 34 | 55 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 179.910 | 40.020 | -0.862 |
| 35 | 96 | Bobby Labonte | Ford | DLP | 179.672 | 40.073 | -0.915 |
| 36 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Haas Automation | 179.270 | 40.163 | -1.005 |
| 37 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Amp Energy / National Guard | 179.140 | 40.192 | -1.034 |
| 38 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Toyota | Jim Beam | 178.496 | 40.337 | -1.179 |
| 39 | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Dodge | Stanley | 178.372 | 40.365 | -1.207 |
| 40 | 34 | John Andretti | Chevrolet | Taco Bell | 178.293 | 40.383 | -1.225 |
| 41 | 98 | Paul Menard+ | Ford | Energizer / Menards | 177.804 | 40.494 | -1.336 |
| 42 | 00 | David Reutimann+ | Toyota | Aaron's Dream Machine | 183.108 | 39.321 | -0.163 |
| 43 | 36 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | Wave Energy Drink | 179.033 | 40.216 | -1.058 |
| Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 37 | Tony Raines | Dodge | Long John Silver's | 178.191 | 40.406 | -1.248 |
| 45 | 64 | Mike Wallace | Toyota | Gunselman Motorsports | 177.971 | 40.456 | -1.298 |
+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie