Montoya wins pole in Fontana
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| Juan Montoya |
Juan Montoya found a quick cure for his qualifying woes Friday at Auto Club Speedway.
Montoya improved dramatically on his 23.5 average starting position this season in winning the Coors Light pole award for Sunday's Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup race at the 2-mile track.
Turning a lap in 38.992 seconds (184.653 mph), Montoya was the only driver to break 39 seconds in time trials for the fifth race of the season. Denny Hamlin claimed the second starting spot with a lap at 184.270 mph.
Joey Logano (184.134) put his No. 20 Toyota in the third spot on the grid, and Regan Smith (184.030) improved his series-best qualifying average to 5.8 with a fourth-place effort.
Tony Stewart and David Ragan will start Sunday's race from the fifth and sixth spots, respectively.
Series points leader Kurt Busch will take the green flag from the 23rd position, with second-place Carl Edwards starting 18th.
Forty-three drivers made qualifying attempts, the fewest in the Cup series this season, but enough for a full field.
Lineup
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 184.653 | 38.992 | Leader |
| 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Office | 184.270 | 39.073 | -0.081 |
| 3 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 184.134 | 39.102 | -0.110 |
| 4 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 184.030 | 39.124 | -0.132 |
| 5 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Mobil 1 | 183.988 | 39.133 | -0.141 |
| 6 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS "We Love Logistics" | 183.692 | 39.196 | -0.204 |
| 7 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 183.622 | 39.211 | -0.219 |
| 8 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Interstate Batteries | 183.482 | 39.241 | -0.249 |
| 9 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | U.S. Army | 183.463 | 39.245 | -0.253 |
| 10 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 183.449 | 39.248 | -0.256 |
| 11 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Crown Royal | 183.407 | 39.257 | -0.265 |
| 12 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Tracker | 183.243 | 39.292 | -0.300 |
| 13 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Dewalt | 183.127 | 39.317 | -0.325 |
| 14 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron's / HP Partner of the Year | 183.113 | 39.320 | -0.328 |
| 15 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Serta / Menards | 182.950 | 39.355 | -0.363 |
| 16 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's | 182.932 | 39.359 | -0.367 |
| 17 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Reagan Presidential Foundation's Centennial Celebration / Childress Inst. for Pediatric Trauma | 182.899 | 39.366 | -0.374 |
| 18 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 182.797 | 39.388 | -0.396 |
| 19 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 182.658 | 39.418 | -0.426 |
| 20 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Best Buy | 182.519 | 39.448 | -0.456 |
| 21 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 182.510 | 39.450 | -0.458 |
| 22 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | Red Bull | 182.366 | 39.481 | -0.489 |
| 23 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Auto Club | 182.039 | 39.552 | -0.560 |
| 24 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches | 181.910 | 39.580 | -0.588 |
| 25 | 13 | Casey Mears | Toyota | GEICO | 181.855 | 39.592 | -0.600 |
| 26 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 181.809 | 39.602 | -0.610 |
| 27 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 181.804 | 39.603 | -0.611 |
| 28 | 09 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | Thank A Teacher Today / Security Benefit | 181.694 | 39.627 | -0.635 |
| 29 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 181.671 | 39.632 | -0.640 |
| 30 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Amp Energy / National Guard | 181.534 | 39.662 | -0.670 |
| 31 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Accell Construction | 180.936 | 39.793 | -0.801 |
| 32 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M | 180.786 | 39.826 | -0.834 |
| 33 | 66 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | HP Racing LLC | 180.605 | 39.866 | -0.874 |
| 34 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Little Debbie | 180.338 | 39.925 | -0.933 |
| 35 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | Speed Energy / Food 4 Less | 180.279 | 39.938 | -0.946 |
| 36 | 38 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Long John Silver's | 180.014 | 39.997 | -1.005 |
| 37 | 34 | David Gilliland | Ford | Taco Bell | 179.699 | 40.067 | -1.075 |
| 38 | 71 | Andy Lally* | Chevrolet | Super Eco-Fuel Saver | 178.958 | 40.233 | -1.241 |
| 39 | 32 | Ken Schrader | Ford | VA Mortgage Center | 177.940 | 40.463 | -1.471 |
| 40 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | NEMCO Motorsports | 177.659 | 40.527 | -1.535 |
| 41 | 60 | Todd Bodine | Toyota | Big Red | 176.557 | 40.780 | -1.788 |
| 42 | 37 | Tony Raines | Ford | Race Fuel Energy Drink | 175.653 | 40.990 | -1.998 |
| 43 | 46 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | Red Line Oil | – | – | – |
+ Set by Owner Points