Hamlin wins pole in Fontana

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