Pepsi 500 Qualifying
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Pepsi 500 Qualifying
Date: Oct. 9, 2009
Event: Pepsi 500 Qualifying (Round 30 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. (2-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (39.158 seconds at 183.870 mph)
SHR Lineup: Tony Stewart (20th, 39.786 seconds at 180.968 mph)
Ryan Newman (36th, 40.163 seconds at 179.269 mph)
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala SS, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent in time trials at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., by qualifying 20th for Sunday’s Pepsi 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Stewart turned a lap of 39.786 seconds at 180.968 mph on the 2-mile oval.
“The car was a little tight,” said Stewart, whose best finish at Fontana came via a pair of fourth-place results in 1999 and 2001. “I think our Office Depot/Old Spice Chevy is good in race trim, and that’s when it matters.”
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation/U.S. Army Chevrolet Impala SS for SHR, qualified 36th with a time of 40.163 seconds at 179.269 mph.
“We were loose coming to the line, and the car just never turned getting into the corners at all,” said Newman, who has two top-five finishes at Fontana in 13 career Sprint Cup starts. “That was just not a good lap at all for the Haas Automation car.”
Denny Hamlin captured his seventh career Sprint Cup pole, his first of the season and his first at Fontana by posting a lap of 39.158 seconds at 183.870 mph.
Greg Biffle will start alongside Hamlin on the outside of row one, as he timed in at 39.408 seconds at 182.704 mph. Jimmie Johnson (39.423 seconds at 182.635 mph), Juan Pablo Montoya (39.492 seconds at 182.315 mph) and Martin Truex Jr., (39.507 seconds at 182.246 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-five drivers attempted to qualify for the Pepsi 500. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Tony Raines and Mike Wallace.
As far as manufacturers went, Toyota took the top spot thanks to Hamlin’s pole. Ford was next best at the hands of Biffle, while Chevrolet was the third-fastest make thanks to Johnson. The top Dodge was wheeled by 12th-quick A.J. Allmendinger (39.687 seconds at 181.420 mph).
David Reutimann, who originally qualified second, had his time and speed disqualified by NASCAR officials for exceeding the gas level limits in the rear shocks of his car. He will start 42nd.
The Pepsi 500 gets underway at 3:15 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 11, with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 2:30 p.m.