Denny Hamlin takes pole for Fontana NASCAR Sprint Cup race

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who has had an up and down start to his year, winning at Phoenix but then finishing 20th in the last two races, got the 10th pole of his career after setting a fastest lap of 38.626 seconds at an average speed of 186.403 mph around the two-mile oval, bumping his team-mate Kyle Busch from the top spot.

"This is a horsepower and handling racetrack and we've improved in those areas and it seems like we've got better," said Hamlin. "TRD [Toyota Racing Development], can't thank them enough, this is kind of a home race for them and everyone out here from Costa Mesa. Glad to give them the pole and obviously a front row for both of us."

Toyota Camrys dominated the session. Michael Waltrip Racing's Mark Martin, returning this week after sitting out Bristol, set the third fastest lap after running second best in practice earlier in the day.

The veteran's time was exactly the same as that set by Busch, while behind them, Roush Fenway's Greg Biffle and Hendrick Motorsports' Kasey Kahne also set identical times rounding out the top five. In both cases the ties were broken by the car's position in the 2011 car owners' standings.

All JGR three drivers held pole at some point during the session, Joey Logano being bumped down to eighth in the end behind Stewart-Haas' Ryan Newman and Richard Childress Racing's Kevin Harvick, having been at the top of the timesheets for a while.

Reigning champion Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas) had a sideways moment but still ran the ninth fastest lap, finishing the session ahead of five-time champion and five-time winner of his home race at Fontana, Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick).

MWR's Clint Bowyer had been fastest earlier in practice but only set the 11th fastest lap in qualifying after going out last in the order.

David Stremme was the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers in 20th, while local Robby Gordon, Joe Nemechek and Timmy Hill failed to make the field.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time     Gap
 1.  Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                 38.626s
 2.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                 38.807s  + 0.181s
 3.  Mark Martin         Waltrip Toyota               38.807s  + 0.181s
 4.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            38.812s  + 0.186s
 5.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           38.812s  + 0.186s
 6.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       38.850s  + 0.224s
 7.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          38.877s  + 0.251s
 8.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                 38.878s  + 0.252s
 9.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       38.880s  + 0.254s
10.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           38.893s  + 0.267s
11.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota               38.908s  + 0.282s
12.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            38.919s  + 0.293s
13.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               38.977s  + 0.351s
14.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           39.018s  + 0.392s
15.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford            39.062s  + 0.436s
16.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  39.116s  + 0.490s
17.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                 39.121s  + 0.495s
18.  David Reutimann     Baldwin Chevrolet            39.149s  + 0.523s
19.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          39.185s  + 0.559s
20.  David Stremme       Inception Toyota             39.259s  + 0.633s
21.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           39.263s  + 0.637s
22.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet      39.333s  + 0.707s
23.  Kurt Busch          Phoenix Chevrolet            39.413s  + 0.787s
24.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  39.439s  + 0.813s
25.  AJ Allmendinger     Penske Dodge                 39.443s  + 0.817s
26.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota         39.464s  + 0.838s
27.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          39.481s  + 0.855s
28.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   39.540s  + 0.914s
29.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   39.559s  + 0.933s
30.  Josh Wise           Front Row Ford               39.760s  + 1.134s
31.  Landon Cassill      BK Toyota                    39.812s  + 1.186s
32.  Michael McDowell    Parsons Ford                 39.865s  + 1.239s
33.  Casey Mears         Germain Ford                 39.880s  + 1.254s
34.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            39.904s  + 1.278s
35.  Scott Riggs         R3 Chevrolet                 39.921s  + 1.295s
36.  JJ Yeley            Robinson-Blakeney Toyota     39.934s  + 1.308s
37.  Brendan Gaughan     Childress Chevrolet          40.087s  + 1.461s
38.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford               40.119s  + 1.493s
39.  Mike Bliss          Humphrey-Smith Toyota        40.157s  + 1.531s
40.  Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                    40.254s  + 1.628s
41.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               40.313s  + 1.687s
42.  Ken Schrader        FAS Lane Ford                40.374s  + 1.748s
43.  Reed Sorenson       Turn One Chevrolet           40.194s  + 1.568s

Did not qualify:

     Robby Gordon        Gordon Dodge                 40.343s  + 1.717s
     Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                 40.349s  + 1.723s
     Timmy Hill          Max Q/Rick Ware Ford         40.464s  + 1.838s