Pepsi Max 400 Qualifying
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Pepsi Max 400 Qualifying
Date: Oct. 8, 2010
Event: Pepsi Max 400 Qualifying (Round 30 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. (2-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Jamie McMurray of Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (38.859 seconds at 185.285 mph)
SHR Lineup: Ryan Newman (14th, 39.297 seconds at 183.220 mph)
Tony Stewart (22nd, 39.390 seconds at 182.788 mph)
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Tornados Chevrolet Impala, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent in time trials at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., by qualifying 14th for Sunday’s Pepsi Max 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Newman turned a lap of 39.297 seconds at 183.220 mph on the 2-mile oval.
“It was pretty good,” said Newman, whose best career finish at Fontana was a third-place effort in the February 2004 race. “I under-drove (turns) one and two just a little bit and tried to make it up in (turns) three and four and I didn’t really hurt myself. It was a good lap. I can’t really complain about the Tornados Chevrolet. Hopefully, with a good car, it won’t take us long to move up to the front.”
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala for SHR, will start 22nd after turning a lap of 39.290 seconds at 182.788 mph.
“I’m really proud of (crew chief) Darian Grubb and everybody on the Office Depot/Old Spice team,” said Stewart, who finished fourth after leading four times for a race-high 76 laps from the 14th starting position last Sunday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. “We weren’t very good at the end of practice and Darian made a really big adjustment there and the car really responded to it. So those are things that are encouraging for the whole weekend. And then, when you can make a change like that and the car responds in the way that you’re wanting it to, we have a lot to look forward to.”
Jamie McMurray captured his seventh career Sprint Cup pole, his fourth of the season and his second at Fontana by posting a lap of 38.859 seconds at 185.285 mph.
Elliott Sadler will start on the outside of row one as he timed in at 39.044 seconds at 184.407 mph. Matt Kenseth was third (39.110 seconds at 184.096 mph), while Juan Pablo Montoya (39.116 seconds at 184.068 mph) and Kasey Kahne (39.138 seconds at 183.964 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-five drivers attempted to qualify for the Pepsi Max 400. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Mike Bliss and Patrick Carpentier.
As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet starts on the pole thanks to McMurray. Ford was next-best at the hands of Sadler, while Toyota was the sixth-fastest make thanks to Martin Truex Jr., who timed in at 39.179 seconds at 183.772 mph. Brad Keselowski, who qualified 25th, was the top Dodge at 39.513 seconds at 182.219 mph.
The Pepsi Max 400 gets underway at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 10 with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at 2 p.m.
-SHR-
