Nascar Blog

Just call him butter because he’s on a roll. I had a little doubt that they would continue their success after last week, and granted, just sitting on the pole doesn’t mean anything unless it helps you win, but, there’s an all Earnhardt Ganassi front row this week, with McMurray on the pole and Juan Montoya in second.

On Trackside after qualifying they attributed it to Earnhardt Ganassi finally getting the cars good at the end of the season, and now they are running, I believe they said ECR, Earnhardt Childress Racing, motors. Whatever they are doing, they are doing it right right now.

With a lap at 183.744 mph (39.185 seconds), McMurray edged Earnhardt Ganassi Racing teammate Juan Pablo Montoya (183.477 mph) for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Auto Club 500, the second points race of the Sprint Cup season.

Clint Bowyer qualified third at 183.127 mph, as cars powered by Earnhardt-Childress Racing engines grabbed the top three positions on the grid. Kasey Kahne (182.913 mph) was fourth in the No. 9 Ford, followed by Dave Blaney (182.908 mph).

Kevin Harvick (182.899 mph), Bowyer’s teammate at Richard Childress Racing, qualified sixth. Four-time defending Series champion Jimmie Johnson, eager to rebound from a 35th-place finish at Daytona, qualified seventh. Sam Hornish, Kyle Busch and Mark Martin claimed starting positions 8-10. Source: Daytona champ McMurray earns pole in California

Here is the video of Jamie’s pole run.

Here is how they qualified in California:
1 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 183.744 39.185 Leader
2 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 183.477 39.242 -0.057
3 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper 183.127 39.317 -0.132
4 9 Kasey Kahne Ford Budweiser / Team USA 182.913 39.363 -0.178
5 66 Dave Blaney Toyota Prism Motorsports 182.908 39.364 -0.179
6 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 182.899 39.366 -0.181
7 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools 182.890 39.368 -0.183
8 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Auto Club 182.811 39.385 -0.200
9 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries 182.788 39.390 -0.205
10 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 182.741 39.400 -0.215
11 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 182.597 39.431 -0.246
12 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 182.292 39.497 -0.312
13 82 Scott Speed Toyota Red Bull 182.195 39.518 -0.333
14 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 182.085 39.542 -0.357
15 6 David Ragan Ford UPS 181.974 39.566 -0.381
16 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Old Spice / Office Depot 181.883 39.586 -0.401
17 36 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Wave Energy Drink 181.749 39.615 -0.430
18 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Haas Automation 181.726 39.620 -0.435
19 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 181.671 39.632 -0.447
20 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Crown Royal 181.502 39.669 -0.484
21 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge AAA Insurance 181.333 39.706 -0.521
22 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies 181.324 39.708 -0.523
23 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 181.314 39.710 -0.525
24 09 Aric Almirola Chevrolet Phoenix Racing 181.314 39.710 -0.525
25 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Freight 181.301 39.713 -0.528
26 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Armor All 181.228 39.729 -0.544
27 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy Juice / National Guard 181.109 39.755 -0.570
28 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 181.055 39.767 -0.582
29 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford Best Buy 181.041 39.770 -0.585
30 55 Michael McDowell Toyota Prism Motorsports 180.895 39.802 -0.617
31 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac “You don’t know quack” 180.768 39.830 -0.645
32 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota NEMCO Motorsports 180.755 39.833 -0.648
33 71 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet TaxSlayer.com 180.587 39.870 -0.685
34 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 180.523 39.884 -0.699
35 13 Max Papis Toyota GEICO 180.501 39.889 -0.704
36 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 180.325 39.928 -0.743
37 98 Paul Menard Ford Energizer / Menards 180.081 39.982 -0.797
38 19 Elliott Sadler Ford Stanley 179.919 40.018 -0.833
39 190 Casey Mears Chevrolet Keyed-Up Motorsports 179.915 40.019 -0.834
41 34 Travis Kvapil Ford Long John Silver’s 178.975 40.229 -1.044
42 135 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Tommy Baldwin Racing 178.940 40.237 -1.052
43 46 Terry Cook Dodge Whitney Motorsports 178.064 40.435 -1.250
44 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Warner Music Nashville / Whitney Duncan 176.302 40.839 -1.654
45 38 David Gilliland Ford Taco Bell 176.207 40.861 -1.676
46 26 Boris Said Ford Sacred Power / Southern Pride Trucking - - -