Bowyer Wins California Pole

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FONTANA, CA – RIS – Clint Bowyer won the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway.  He ran a lap of 40.086 seconds or 179.614 mph.  Six-time winner at the track, Jimmie Johnson was.007 seconds slower.  He will start on the front row with Bowyer.

“I was freaking out that the sun kept coming out,” said Bowyer, who claimed his first Busch Pole Award at Fontana, his first of the season and the fourth of his career. “You know the track’s building temperature. Everybody-you could see the data-kept getting looser and looser down in (Turns) 1 and 2.

“I knew coming to the green was important, tried to stay out high, try to get up through the gear box as good as you can, but that’s what it was. It stuck down there (in Turns 1 and 2), and everybody else had to kind of chase it up the track and lost speed and momentum.

“Then (Johnson), I’m thinking, ‘Man, if it comes down and I get beat by the last car on the race track, I’m going to freak out.’ I got a pole, baby! Looking forward to tomorrow. It’s going to be a hell of a race.”

Johnson (179.582 mph) is facing his last race at Auto Club as a full-time driver, and his wife Chandra and daughters Genevieve and Lydia send him on his way from the flag stand above the start/finish line.

“I wish we were one spot further ahead, and clearly, off of Turn 4 there, I ran a little more distance to the start/finish,” said Johnson, who grew up in El Cajon near San Diego. “Such a fine balance trying to understand how much you can open the wheel and let the engine run. Clearly, I did a little too much.

Alex Bowman, who led both Friday practices, qualified third, followed by Kurt Busch, as Chevrolets claimed the second, third and fourth starting spots for Sunday’s race. Kyle Busch was 17th in the fastest Toyota.

Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr., will start last (38th) on Sunday, having been barred from making a qualifying run after his No. 19 Camry failed inspection three times.

Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola will line up fifth and sixth, respectively, for the third NASCAR Cup Series race of the season, followed by Joey Logano, Michael McDowell, Kyle Larson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

 Starting Line Up: 24th Annual Auto Club 400, Auto Club Speedway
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed
1) Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Rush/HAAS CNC Ford, 40.086 sec, 179.614 mph
2) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 40.093, 179.582
3) Alex Bowman, No. 88 Cincinnati Chevrolet, 40.143, 179.359
4) Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 40.233, 178.958
5) Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 40.250, 178.882
6) Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 40.280, 178.749
7) Joey Logano, No. 22 Auto Club of Southern California Ford, 40.284, 178.731
8) Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 40.304, 178.642
9) Kyle Larson, No. 42 McDonald's Chevrolet, 40.341, 178.478
10) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet, 40.351, 178.434
11) Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 40.367, 178.364
12) Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Menards/Quaker State Ford, 40.428, 178.094
13) Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 40.485, 177.844
14) Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet, 40.487, 177.835
15) Brad Keselowski, No. 2 America's Tire Ford, 40.491, 177.817
16) Ryan Blaney, No. 12 BODYARMOR Ford, 40.503, 177.765
17) Kyle Busch, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 40.516, 177.708
18) Cole Custer #, No. 41 Production Alliance Group/Haas Ford, 40.519, 177.694
19) Tyler Reddick #, No. 8 I am Second Chevrolet, 40.583, 177.414
20) Ryan Preece, No. 37 Cottonelle Chevrolet, 40.587, 177.397
21) William Byron, No. 24 Axalta 24 Tribute Chevrolet, 40.610, 177.296
22) Christopher Bell #, No. 95 Rheem Toyota, 40.698, 176.913
23) John Hunter Nemechek #, No. 38 Fire Alarm Services Ford, 40.699, 176.909
24) Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 40.738, 176.739
25) Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Coatings Chevrolet, 40.750, 176.687
26) Corey LaJoie, No. 32 Pala Casino Ford, 40.761, 176.639
27) Ross Chastain(i), No. 6 Castrol Ford, 40.783, 176.544
28) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 40.790, 176.514
29) Erik Jones, No. 20 Reeser's Fine Foods Toyota, 40.955, 175.803
30) JJ Yeley(i), No. 52 JACOB Companies Ford, 41.484, 173.561
31) Daniel Suarez, No. 96 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota, 41.511, 173.448
32) Brennan Poole #, No. 15 CHOC Kids Chevrolet, 41.819, 172.171
33) Reed Sorenson, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, 41.975, 171.531
34) Joey Gase(i), No. 53 One Legacy Ford, 42.375, 169.912
35) Quin Houff #, No. 00 Victory Weekend Chevrolet, 42.657, 168.788
36) Garrett Smithley, No. 51 Chevrolet, 42.842, 168.059
37) Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 MANSCAPED/LASVEGAS.NET Toyota, 43.729, 164.650
38) Martin Truex Jr, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 0.000, 0.000
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2020, Issue 2, Posted 7:31 PM, 02.29.2020