McMurray wins Chicagoland pole
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| Jamie McMurray |
Continuing the tradition of everything happens in NASCAR for a reason, Jamie McMurray gave his sponsor, McDonalds, the pole in the backyard of their headquarters – for Saturday night's race at Chicagoland Speedway.
"It is a lot of pressure when you are good in practice and then try to repeat when it comes time to qualify," McMurray said. "But Bono (Kevin Manion, crew chief) did a really good job. He made the right changes. That is just all the faster we could go. We had a lot of grip and the balance is good."
It is the third pole of the season and sixth of his career for McMurray, who won the Daytona 500 in February but has been struggling of late. McMurray turned a lap of 183.542 mph in his Chevrolet.
He was followed by the Chevrolets of Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart. Greg Biffle qualified fourth in a Ford, followed by Sam Hornish Jr. in a Dodge.
"We are real happy with race trim and thought we would have a good shot at the pole and came close, just a few hundredths off the time that the No. 1 (Jamie McMurray) ran," Johnson said. "Left a little on the table in turn one, the car was a little uncomfortable down there but nailed three and four and had a good lap with this Lowe’s Impala."
Lineup
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | McDonald's | 183.542 | 29.421 | Leader |
| 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's | 183.281 | 29.463 | -0.042 |
| 3 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Old Spice "Back to School" | 182.877 | 29.528 | -0.107 |
| 4 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M Filtrete | 182.673 | 29.561 | -0.140 |
| 5 | 77 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Mobil 1 | 182.605 | 29.572 | -0.151 |
| 6 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont | 182.599 | 29.573 | -0.152 |
| 7 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Tums | 182.587 | 29.575 | -0.154 |
| 8 | 98 | Paul Menard | Ford | Moen / Menards | 182.445 | 29.598 | -0.177 |
| 9 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 182.445 | 29.598 | -0.177 |
| 10 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 182.248 | 29.630 | -0.209 |
| 11 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac Silver | 182.168 | 29.643 | -0.222 |
| 12 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Ford | Budweiser | 182.106 | 29.653 | -0.232 |
| 13 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Best Buy's Geek Squad | 182.039 | 29.664 | -0.243 |
| 14 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 181.977 | 29.674 | -0.253 |
| 15 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Cheerios / Hamburger Helper | 181.867 | 29.692 | -0.271 |
| 16 | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Ford | Stanley / Ace / Children's Miracle Network | 181.806 | 29.702 | -0.281 |
| 17 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Ground | 181.800 | 29.703 | -0.282 |
| 18 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 181.653 | 29.727 | -0.306 |
| 19 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Haas Automation | 181.616 | 29.733 | -0.312 |
| 20 | 09 | Bobby Labonte | Chevrolet | Coke Zero | 181.555 | 29.743 | -0.322 |
| 21 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 181.415 | 29.766 | -0.345 |
| 22 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Miller Lite / Vortex | 181.348 | 29.777 | -0.356 |
| 23 | 47 | Marcos Ambrose | Toyota | Clorox / Kleenex | 181.324 | 29.781 | -0.360 |
| 24 | 83 | Reed Sorenson | Toyota | Red Bull | 181.311 | 29.783 | -0.362 |
| 25 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Amp Energy / National Guard | 181.299 | 29.785 | -0.364 |
| 26 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS Freight | 181.099 | 29.818 | -0.397 |
| 27 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Shell / Pennzoil | 181.068 | 29.823 | -0.402 |
| 28 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | FrontRowJoe.com | 180.929 | 29.846 | -0.425 |
| 29 | 21 | Bill Elliott | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 180.796 | 29.868 | -0.447 |
| 30 | 12 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Penske Racing | 180.385 | 29.936 | -0.515 |
| 31 | 13 | Max Papis | Toyota | GEICO | 180.331 | 29.945 | -0.524 |
| 32 | 71 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | TRG Motorsports | 180.270 | 29.955 | -0.534 |
| 33 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Snickers | 180.192 | 29.968 | -0.547 |
| 34 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Crown Royal Black | 180.150 | 29.975 | -0.554 |
| 35 | 36 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 180.102 | 29.983 | -0.562 |
| 36 | 26 | David Stremme | Ford | Air National Guard / GTWGPS.com | 179.934 | 30.011 | -0.590 |
| 37 | 132 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | Braun Racing | 179.689 | 30.052 | -0.631 |
| 38 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Toyota | Mapei / Menards | 179.414 | 30.098 | -0.677 |
| 39 | 82 | Scott Speed | Toyota | Red Bull | 179.396 | 30.101 | -0.680 |
| 40 | 37 | David Gilliland+ | Ford | Taco Bell | 178.701 | 30.218 | -0.797 |
| 41 | 78 | Regan Smith+ | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 178.436 | 30.263 | -0.842 |
| 42 | 34 | Kevin Conway+* | Ford | Extenze | 176.881 | 30.529 | -1.108 |
| 43 | 38 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Long John Silver's | 179.342 | 30.110 | -0.689 |
| Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 55 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | Prism Motorsports | 179.098 | 30.151 | -0.730 |
| 45 | 66 | Dave Blaney | Toyota | Prism Motorsports | 178.849 | 30.193 | -0.772 |
| 46 | 46 | J.J. Yeley | Dodge | Whitney Motorsports | 177.995 | 30.338 | -0.917 |
| 47 | 164 | Todd Bodine | Toyota | Gunselman Motorsports | 177.352 | 30.448 | -1.027 |
+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie