Marcos Ambrose scored the pole for Sunday’s Sprint Cup event at Sonoma, CA on Friday. Photo by Ezra Shaw, Getty Images
On Friday at Sonoma, Marcos Ambrose ran less than half his fast as he had last Saturday at Michigan — but the result was the same.
Touring the 1.99-mile road course in 75.203 seconds (95.262 mph), Ambrose won the pole for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350, his second Coors Light pole award in as many weekends and the second of his career. Ambrose withstood a determined challenge from Jeff Gordon (95.067 mph), who, as the last driver to make a qualifying attempt, came up just short.
Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson, qualified third for the 16th NASCAR Sprint Cup race of the season at 94.795 mph. Greg Biffle (94.722 mph) was fourth, followed by Martin Truex Jr. (94.686 mph).
Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, last year’s winner Kurt Busch, series leader Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman will start from positions six through 10, respectively. Dale Earnhardt Jr., last week’s winner at Michigan and second in points, qualified 19th.
Ambrose won the pole at Michigan last week at 203.241 mph on a lightning-fast, repaved two-mile oval.
“I think Kentucky next week is going to be about 175 miles per hour, so I’ll be gunning for that as well,” Ambrose quipped. “I’m just really thrilled today. We put a lot of effort into this race . . . We brought a brand new hot rod for this race — better than the one we had here last year — and I’m just thrilled that we can convert.
“It’s only one lap. We’ve got to do a lot more on Sunday, but at least we can go home and say we had the fastest car. It was a good lap. I was more nervous, I think, running (95) miles an hour than I was running 200.”
Gordon was ahead of Ambrose’s pace until he reached the last two corners.
“There are always places you can gain, and it’s risk versus reward,” Gordon said. “There are some places where you can lose, too. I felt like I was aggressive in areas where the car was comfortable in practice, and it was giving me signs and feedback that it had good grip.
“I knew it was a better lap than what we had in practice, but I felt like there were some areas where I left a little bit. If you had to do it all over again, I’d love to take these segments and try to do them again, (but) all in all, I’m very happy.”
Brian Simo failed to make the 43-car field.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Sonoma Raceway – Sonoma, CA
Toyota Save Mart 350 Qualifying – June 22, 2012
1 9 Marcos Ambrose 75.203 95.262
2 24 Jeff Gordon 75.357 95.067
3 48 Jimmie Johnson 75.574 94.795
4 16 Greg Biffle 75.632 94.722
5 56 Martin Truex Jr. 75.661 94.686
6 15 Clint Bowyer 75.666 94.679
7 18 Kyle Busch 75.704 94.632
8 51 Kurt Busch 75.764 94.557
9 17 Matt Kenseth 75.790 94.524
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11 99 Carl Edwards 75.807 94.503
12 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 75.955 94.319
13 2 Brad Keselowski 75.995 94.269
14 20 Joey Logano 76.044 94.209
15 5 Kasey Kahne 76.046 94.206
16 11 Denny Hamlin 76.052 94.199
17 22 AJ Allmendinger 76.064 94.184
18 47 Bobby Labonte 76.129 94.103
19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 76.192 94.026
20 13 Casey Mears 76.220 93.991
21 55 Brian Vickers 76.254 93.949
22 95 Scott Speed 76.283 93.913
23 27 Paul Menard 76.343 93.840
24 14 Tony Stewart 76.356 93.824
25 1 Jamie McMurray 76.431 93.732
26 29 Kevin Harvick 76.434 93.728
27 38 David Gilliland 76.601 93.524
28 32 Boris Said 76.811 93.268
29 34 David Ragan 76.895 93.166
30 43 Aric Almirola 76.906 93.153
31 78 Regan Smith 76.979 93.064
32 36 Dave Blaney 77.062 92.964
33 98 David Mayhew 77.171 92.833
34 7 Robby Gordon 77.396 92.563
35 31 Jeff Burton 77.483 92.459
36 87 Joe Nemechek 77.751 92.140
37 19 Chris Cook 77.805 92.076
38 49 JJ Yeley 77.931 91.927
39 93 Travis Kvapil 78.009 91.836
40 26 Josh Wise 78.100 91.729
41 10 Tomy Drissi Owner Points
42 83 Landon Cassill Owner Points
43 33 Stephen Leicht 78.136 91.686
Did Not Qualify: Brian Simo
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