Toyota/Save Mart 350k Qualifying
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Toyota/Save Mart 350k Qualifying
Date: June 18, 2010
Event: Toyota/Save Mart 350k Qualifying (Round 16 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. (10-turn, 1.99-mile road course)
Pole Winner: Kasey Kahne of Richard Petty Motorsports (76.300 seconds at 93.893 mph)
SHR Lineup: Tony Stewart (7th, 76.814 seconds at 93.264 mph)
Ryan Newman (13th, 76.903 seconds at 93.156 mph)
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent in time trials at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., by qualifying seventh for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350k NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Stewart turned a lap of 76.814 seconds at 93.264 mph on the 10-turn, 1.99 mile road course.
“We didn’t get a chance to do a qualifying run in practice, so we went into it a little bit unsure of what to expect,” said Stewart, who just missed earning his third Sprint Cup win at Sonoma in last year’s race, as Kasey Kahne beat him to the line by .748 of a second. “I’m real proud of Darian Grubb (crew chief) and all the guys on this Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet. It was a pretty good lap for us. This is a track that I always look forward to coming to. This is a big weekend for me. This is a beautiful area to come to but this is a race that I really, really enjoy. I always like to go road course racing and it’s a weekend when I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well.”
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for SHR, will start 13th after turning a lap of 76.903 seconds at 93.156 mph.
“We just needed to be a little tighter on that lap,” said Newman, whose best result at Sonoma came in 2006 when he finished second to Jeff Gordon. “It wasn’t the perfect lap on my part, but I think we have a pretty good Haas Automation Chevrolet for Sunday’s race.”
Kahne captured his 17th career Sprint Cup pole, his first of the season, his second at Sonoma and his second on a road course by posting a lap of 76.300 seconds at 93.893 mph.
Jimmie Johnson will start alongside Kahne on the outside of row one, as he timed in at 76.368 seconds at 93.809 mph. Kurt Busch was third at 76.556 seconds at 93.579 mph, while Kevin Harvick (76.665 seconds at 93.446 mph) and Gordon (76.690 seconds at 93.415 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the Toyota/Save Mart 350k. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Brandon Ash, Brian Simo and Michael Waltrip.
As far as manufacturers went, Ford took the top spot thanks to Kahne’s pole. Chevrolet was next best at the hands of second-quick Johnson, while Dodge was the third-fastest make thanks to Busch’s third-place run. Marcos Ambrose, who qualified sixth, was the top Toyota at 76.809 seconds at 93.270 mph.
The Toyota/SaveMart 350k gets underway at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 20 with live coverage provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at 2 p.m.
-SHR-
