Kasey Kahne wins pole in Sonoma
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| Kasey Kahne turned a lap of 77.740 seconds to grab the pole position for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway |
| Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images |
Kasey Kahne continued his recent hot streak Friday by winning the pole at Infineon Raceway for his best career starting position on a road course.
Kahne was the third driver to make his qualifying attempt and his lap around the twisting track at 92.153 mph was good enough to hold the top spot for the entire session. It was his second pole of the season, and second in three weeks.
It's Kahne's best start at a road course, bettering the second-place qualifying effort he made at Watkins Glen in 2006. His highest start in Sonoma was sixth that same season.
"To get the pole is always very difficult, especially at these tracks,'' Kahne said. "There's certain guys that seem like they are right there. We've been close here in the past, we've been close at Watkins Glen. So I felt I could make that one lap and come close to the pole and today we had a great Dodge and we were able to get it.
"I came in today thinking I had a good shot, but winning a pole at Infineon is tougher than it sounds.''
Jimmie Johnson qualified second with a lap at 92.040 and Kurt Busch was third with a lap at 92.005.
Kahne has been on an incredible run since winning the All-Star race last month, backing it up with victories in the Coca-Cola 600 and two weeks ago at Pocono. He was second last week in Michigan.
Bobby Labonte qualified fourth and was followed by five-time Infineon winner Jeff Gordon, Elliott Sadler and Marcos Ambrose. Robby Gordon, Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle rounded out the top 10.
Tony Stewart had his worst qualifying effort of the season and will start 39th.
“I guarantee this is the worst we’ll ever have started on a road course," Stewart said. “Right now it’s going to be a long way to go."
Four drivers failed to qualify for Sunday's race: J.J. Yeley, Scott Riggs, Dario Franchitti and Brandon Ash.
Lineup
|
POS |
CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Dodge | Budweiser | 92.153 | 77.740 | Leader |
| 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's | 92.040 | 77.836 | -0.096 |
| 3 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Miller Lite | 92.005 | 77.865 | -0.125 |
| 4 | 43 | Bobby Labonte | Dodge | Cheerios / Betty Crocker | 91.943 | 77.918 | -0.178 |
| 5 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont Cromax Pro | 91.923 | 77.935 | -0.195 |
| 6 | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Dodge | Stanley Tools | 91.843 | 78.003 | -0.263 |
| 7 | 21 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Little Debbie Honey Buns | 91.819 | 78.023 | -0.283 |
| 8 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | Robby Gordon Motorsports | 91.732 | 78.097 | -0.357 |
| 9 | 12 | Ryan Newman | Dodge | Alltel | 91.519 | 78.279 | -0.539 |
| 10 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M | 91.448 | 78.340 | -0.600 |
| 11 | 45 | Terry Labonte | Dodge | Wells Fargo | 91.448 | 78.340 | -0.600 |
| 12 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Office Depot | 91.276 | 78.487 | -0.747 |
| 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Office | 91.206 | 78.547 | -0.807 |
| 14 | 160 | Boris Said | Ford | 7-Eleven Slurpee / No Fear | 91.182 | 78.568 | -0.828 |
| 15 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | AMP Energy / National Guard | 91.162 | 78.585 | -0.845 |
| 16 | 22 | Dave Blaney | Toyota | Caterpillar | 91.158 | 78.589 | -0.849 |
| 17 | 77 | Sam Hornish Jr.* | Dodge | Mobil 1 | 91.147 | 78.598 | -0.858 |
| 18 | 26 | Jamie McMurray | Ford | Crown Royal | 91.140 | 78.604 | -0.864 |
| 19 | 07 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Jack Daniel's | 91.138 | 78.606 | -0.866 |
| 20 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | AT&T Mobility | 91.057 | 78.676 | -0.936 |
| 21 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Dodge | Texaco / Havoline | 91.025 | 78.704 | -0.964 |
| 22 | 01 | Ron Fellows | Chevrolet | DEI / Principal Financial Group | 91.012 | 78.715 | -0.975 |
| 23 | 5 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | CARQUEST / Kellogg's | 90.984 | 78.739 | -0.999 |
| 24 | 78 | Joe Nemechek | Chevrolet | Furniture Row/ DenverMattress.com | 90.955 | 78.764 | -1.024 |
| 25 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Tracker | 90.951 | 78.768 | -1.028 |
| 26 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 90.932 | 78.784 | -1.044 |
| 27 | 41 | Scott Pruett | Dodge | Target | 90.905 | 78.808 | -1.068 |
| 28 | 66 | Max Papis | Chevrolet | Haas Automation | 90.870 | 78.838 | -1.098 |
| 29 | 15 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Johns Manville / Menards | 90.804 | 78.895 | -1.155 |
| 30 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M's | 90.794 | 78.904 | -1.164 |
| 31 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | FreeCreditReport.com | 90.792 | 78.906 | -1.166 |
| 32 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Shell / Pennzoil | 90.773 | 78.922 | -1.182 |
| 33 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | DEWALT | 90.763 | 78.931 | -1.191 |
| 34 | 00 | Michael McDowell* | Toyota | NAPA AUTO PARTS | 90.694 | 78.991 | -1.251 |
| 35 | 55 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | NAPA AUTO PARTS | 90.647 | 79.032 | -1.292 |
| 36 | 84 | A.J. Allmendinger | Toyota | Red Bull | 90.509 | 79.152 | -1.412 |
| 37 | 10 | Patrick Carpentier* | Dodge | Valvoline | 90.375 | 79.270 | -1.530 |
| 38 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | AAA Insurance | 90.356 | 79.286 | -1.546 |
| 39 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Toyota | The Home Depot | 90.298 | 79.337 | -1.597 |
| 40 | 8 | Aric Almirola | Chevrolet | U.S. Army | 90.228 | 79.399 | -1.659 |
| 41 | 28 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | California Highway Patrol | 89.901 | 79.688 | -1.948 |
| 42 | 44 | David Reutimann+ | Toyota | UPS | 88.817 | 80.660 | -2.920 |
| 43 | 34 | Brian Simo | Chevrolet | No Fear | 90.135 | 79.481 | -1.741 |
| Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 96 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | DLP HDTV | 90.074 | 79.535 | -1.795 |
| 45 | 70 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | Haas Automation | 89.842 | 79.740 | -2.000 |
| 46 | 40 | Dario Franchitti* | Dodge | Texaco / Havoline – The Hartford | 89.750 | 79.822 | -2.082 |
| 47 | 102 | Brandon Ash | Dodge | Sprinter Trucking / Sunny D Manufacturing | 88.123 | 81.295 | -3.555 |