Sonoma NASCAR: AJ Allmendinger takes pole ahead of Kurt Busch
AJ Allmendinger took NASCAR Sprint Cup pole at Sonoma ahead of Kurt Busch, while Kyle Larson broke the qualifying lap record in the first session
JTG Daugherty Chevrolet driver Allmendinger's pole didn't come easy, with Michael Annett's stall causing a red flag when he was on a flying lap in the opening segment, but he rallied to secure a place in the cut-off before taking the top honours.
The eventual pole time of 1m14.835s was set in the final moments of the top 12 shootout, as Allmendinger displaced the initial benchmark set by Jeff Gordon, who ended up fifth behind Busch, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Larson when his rivals improved late on.
Larson had made the top 12 shootout after besting his Ganassi team-mate Jamie McMurray's lap record from the year before by two tenths with a time of 1m14.186s, but he was unable to repeat his heroics in the final stage.
Clint Bowyer took sixth, narrowly beating Tony Stewart and Casey Mears, while the top 10 was rounded off by David Ragan and Brad Keselowski.
Kyle Busch had been in the top six in first qualifying before coming up short in the second section as he caused a red flag.
The Joe Gibbs racer lost control at the start of Turn 10. He restarted to take 11th ahead of Martin Truex Jr.
While the final stage provided little in the way of close battles, in the first stage the final cut-off position of 12th regularly swung back and forth.
Ragan was the man who secured the place but only after the likes of Jimmie Johnson, 2014 Sonoma winner Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin had held the position.
Championship frontrunners Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano also failed to reach the final shootout and will start 17th and 19th.
STARTING GRID:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 1m14.385s | - |
| 2 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 1m14.551s | 0.166s |
| 3 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1m14.624s | 0.239s |
| 4 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 1m14.678s | 0.293s |
| 5 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1m14.699s | 0.314s |
| 6 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 1m14.715s | 0.330s |
| 7 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 1m14.888s | 0.503s |
| 8 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 1m14.966s | 0.581s |
| 9 | David Ragan | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 1m15.018s | 0.633s |
| 10 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 1m15.175s | 0.790s |
| 11 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1m15.179s | 0.794s |
| 12 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 1m15.270s | 0.885s |
| 13 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1m14.815s | - |
| 14 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1m14.833s | - |
| 15 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1m14.973s | - |
| 16 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 1m14.991s | - |
| 17 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 1m15.034s | - |
| 18 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 1m15.066s | - |
| 19 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 1m15.081s | - |
| 20 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1m15.102s | - |
| 21 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 1m15.121s | - |
| 22 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 1m15.138s | - |
| 23 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Ford | 1m15.145s | - |
| 24 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 1m15.246s | - |
| 25 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 1m15.344s | - |
| 26 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1m15.406s | - |
| 27 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1m15.474s | - |
| 28 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 1m15.537s | - |
| 29 | Cole Whitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 1m15.566s | - |
| 30 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 1m15.638s | - |
| 31 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 1m15.782s | - |
| 32 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 1m15.788s | - |
| 33 | Boris Said | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 1m15.828s | - |
| 34 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota | 1m15.857s | - |
| 35 | Justin Marks | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 1m15.954s | - |
| 36 | Alex Kennedy | Circle Sport | Chevrolet | 1m16.106s | - |
| 37 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 1m16.174s | - |
| 38 | Josh Wise | Phil Parsons Racing | Chevrolet | 1m16.216s | - |
| 39 | Landon Cassill | Hillman Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1m17.057s | - |
| 40 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 1m17.067s | - |
| 41 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 1m17.128s | - |
| 42 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1m17.551s | - |
| 43 | Jeb Burton | BK Racing | Toyota | 1m17.658s | - |
| 44 | Brendan Gaughan | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1m17.931s | - |
NASCAR tweaks rules for Kentucky in bid to improve overtaking
Sonoma NASCAR: Kyle and Kurt Busch take their first Cup one-two
Why Monte Carlo success could spark another past master’s WRC revival
Some 39 years on from his Monte Carlo Rally debut, World Rally Championship legend Francois Delecour continues to pick up silverware. Proving that age is purely a number, the 60-year-old's desire to compete against the WRC’s latest young talents could be the start of a new chapter in the Frenchman’s storied career
Haas: No plans to change F1 team model despite nearing budget cap
Gunther Steiner says there is no plan for Haas to change the model of its Formula 1 team despite nearing the budget cap with a new title sponsor.
Supercars team reveals coin toss chassis allocation
Supercars squad Team 18 used a combination of a coin toss and a ping pong ball lottery to allocate its new chassis to drivers Scott Pye and Mark Winterbottom.
HPD boss "amazed" by GTP reliability on debut at Daytona 24 Hours
The boss of Honda Performance Developments has expressed his amazement at the high levels of reliability demonstrated by the all-new GTP prototypes in last weekend's Daytona 24 Hours.
The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team
Saddled with uncompetitive Minardi machinery, Tarso Marques didn't manage to score points in his three partial seasons of Formula 1. But now the Brazilian has the chance to show what he can do in NASCAR, and explains the story of his comeback with new Cup Series entrant Team Stange
The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car
NASCAR’s new stock car generation is encouraging an influx of fresh blood into its top tier. But there are concerns that parts are in short supply as the entire paddock tries to build up stocks at the same time
How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style
After holding his nerve and hip-checking his team-mate on the run to the line, Austin Cindric made a perfect start to life as a full-timer in the NASCAR Cup Series by winning the Daytona 500. Here's how the Penske Ford man emerged first across the line in the first points-scoring race for the much-anticipated Next Generation cars
Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season
There are plenty of uncertainties ahead of the 2022 NASCAR Cup season as an all-new fleet of cars take to the track for the first time. Ahead of this weekend's Daytona 500, our experts explain what you need to know
How NASCAR had to learn a harsh lesson ahead of its Next Gen arrival
The NASCAR Cup kicks off with the Daytona 500 this weekend, but a major overhaul and a subsequent mountain of work has been required to be ready for the arrival of the Next Gen cars
How Larson took the long way round to NASCAR Cup glory
From villain to hero, Kyle Larson’s journey to the 2021 NASCAR Cup title comes straight from the Hollywood blockbuster scripts. While Larson had to reach his lifelong goal the hard way and go through a very public shaming after a ban for using a racial slur, his talents shone long before his name grabbed the headlines for both the right and the wrong reasons
How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022
It’s not just Formula 1 that’s set for upheaval in 2022, as the NASCAR Cup Series adopts its Next Gen cars that will cast any in-built advantages aside and require teams to adopt a totally new way of operating. Far more than just a change of machinery, the new cars amount to a shift in NASCAR's core philosophy
Why Bubba Wallace’s Talladega win is such a big moment for NASCAR
Bubba Wallace claimed his maiden NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega on Monday to become the first Black victor in the category since Wendell Scott in 1963. Both Wallace and Scott had faced obstacles and racism in their paths to their breakthrough wins, and NASCAR is trying to put it right with its range of diversity programmes
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.