Jamie McMurray drives during qualifying for the Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Sonoma Raceway. Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Those who were surprised that Jamie McMurray won the Coors Light pole for Sunday’s Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway simply haven’t been paying attention.
With a lap at 94.986 mph (75.422 seconds) in Saturday’s time trials, McMurray edged pre-qualifying favorite Marcos Ambrose (94.924 mph) for the top spot in the first group-based qualifying format ever used in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series.
Both McMurray and Ambrose qualified in the final five-car group (No. 8), with Ambrose posting his lap first and McMurray topping him shortly thereafter. The Coors Light pole award was McMurray’s first of the season, his second at Sonoma and the ninth of his career.
The pole not only underscored McMurray’s road course credentials but also highlighted the improved performance of the entire Earnhardt Ganassi Racing organization.
“I remember sitting in here a year ago with (team mate) Juan (Pablo Montoya) when we made the announcement that we were going to run the Indy Grand-Am race, and we talked about everything that was going on with making our cars better.
“They’ve just done an amazing job. Juan and I were talking about it (Friday) between practices. The cars don’t necessarily feel better on the track, but the times are better in relation to everybody. Coming out here I was really confident, because every track we’ve been to we’ve had really good speed and we’ve run really well. We haven’t necessarily been able to get the finishes in the last 10 percent of the race, but it hasn’t really been anything that we’ve done wrong.
So I feel really good about our cars and just about any track we go to now.”
Carl Edwards (94.779 mph) qualified third from group No. 5, followed by Greg Biffle (94.772 mph) and defending race winner Clint Bowyer (94.737 mph). Series leader Jimmie Johnson will start 19th, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 26th and Danica Patrick 31st.
Ambrose, who set the track record of 95.262 mph last year, said his car lost power coming to the green flag to start his first qualifying lap.
“In our case, the motor quit running coming to the green flag, so I lost all my momentum coming to the green flag,” Ambrose said. “I thought about bailing out of that lap and trying to roll around for a second lap, but I wasn’t sure about engine temperatures and the tires… but I just went for it.
“I pretty much lost my mind there. I was really mad… but it was good enough to get the front row, and I’m proud of that, but I’m disappointed, obviously, that we didn’t get the pole.”
The new group-based qualifying format produced on-track issues almost immediately. Roughly two minutes into the session for group No.1, Victor Gonzalez Jr. went off course in turn 10 while running behind David Stremme, who was slow out of the gate to start the session.
Gonzalez slammed into the tire barrier, ripping the left front fender of his No. 36 Chevrolet. The accident stopped the clock on the session, which featured a five-minute allotment for each group. Qualifying resumed after track clean-up.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Sonoma Raceway – Sonoma, CA
Toyota/Save Mart 350 Qualifying – June 22, 2013
1. 1 Jamie McMurray 75.422 94.986
2. 9 Marcos Ambrose 75.471 94.924
3. 99 Carl Edwards 75.586 94.779
4. 16 Greg Biffle 75.592 94.772
5. 15 Clint Bowyer 75.620 94.737
6. 20 Matt Kenseth 75.711 94.623
7. 78 Kurt Busch 75.750 94.574
JANA 2008; 11:50-56.Panossian A, Wikman G. miamistonecrabs.com sildenafil purchase When is surgery necessary? Surgery for a spinal tumor is buy viagra from canada generally indicated for progressive motor weakness or loss of bowel or bladder dysfunction, ought to have an instantaneous surgical evaluation as these situations could signify a surgical emergency. They don’t necessarily do things because they are morally cheap tadalafil 20mg right but they do what is most expedient for the business. A teacher is instrumental in shaping the plaintiff’s http://miamistonecrabs.com/lacrosse-camp/ generic cialis soft action. 8. 22 Joey Logano 75.788 94.527
9. 18 Kyle Busch 75.933 94.346
10. 24 Jeff Gordon 75.943 94.334
11. 14 Tony Stewart 76.010 94.251
12. 29 Kevin Harvick 76.039 94.215
13. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 76.039 94.215
14. 56 Martin Truex Jr. 76.200 94.016
15. 5 Kasey Kahne 76.401 93.768
16. 27 Paul Menard 76.464 93.691
17. 11 Denny Hamlin 76.465 93.690
18. 2 Brad Keselowski 76.470 93.684
19. 48 Jimmie Johnson 76.471 93.683
20. 47 Bobby Labonte 76.483 93.668
21. 13 Casey Mears 76.555 93.580
22. 51 Jacques Villeneuve 76.576 93.554
23. 34 David Ragan 76.592 93.535
24. 32 Boris Said 76.642 93.474
25. 33 Ron Fellows 76.650 93.464
26. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 76.686 93.420
27. 31 Jeff Burton 76.784 93.301
28. 30 David Stremme 76.819 93.258
29. 38 David Gilliland 76.829 93.246
30. 39 Ryan Newman 76.878 93.187
31. 10 Danica Patrick 76.922 93.133
32. 43 Aric Almirola 77.001 93.038
33. 93 Travis Kvapil 77.169 92.835
34. 55 Jason Bowles 77.224 92.769
35. 35 Josh Wise 77.240 92.750
36. 7 Justin Marks 77.360 92.606
37. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Owner Points
38. 83 David Reutimann Owner Points
39. 19 Alex Kennedy Owner Points
40. 52 Paulie Harraka Owner Points
41. 87 Tomy Drissi Owner Points
42. 36 Victor Gonzalez Jr. Owner Points
43. 37 J.J. Yeley 80.143 89.390
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