Toyota/SaveMart 350 Qualifying Update

Infineon Raceway Sonoma -- 06/21/2009

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Sunday Jun 21 2009 2:05am

There are plenty of variables heading into Sunday’s road course race in Sonoma, California, including the relative inexperience of some oval drivers on road courses, the presence of the so-called road course ‘ringers,’ NASCAR’s new double file restart rule, pit selections, and issues with spins, engines and tires.

Brian Vickers scored the pole in qualifying Friday, with Kyle Busch in P2 and Marcos Ambrose in P3. Ambrose blew an engine in practice on Saturday, however, and will start at the rear of the field.

Meanwhile, Vickers, who had the first pit stall selection, chose pit stall 23, the second one with an opening in front of it, while Ambrose, who keeps his pit selection despite the engine change, chose stall number 1 with the quickest egress to the track. Outside polesitter Busch took pit stall number 11, which is the next one with an opening in front of it.

Ambrose had the fastest time in Saturday’s morning practice session before losing his engine, while AJ Allmendinger was fastest in Happy Hour practice. Ambrose ran 31st in Happy Hour in his backup car.

In other incidents, at least three drivers had on-track spins, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and David Reutimann, who all spun in practice but did not appear to hit anything. John Andretti and David Gilliland made contact on pit road Saturday. Gilliland will be going to a backup, while the status of Andretti’s primary car is uncertain.

No one was able to run in the top 10 in all three practices as well as qualifying. Jamie McMurray is the only driver in the top 10 across the board in practice (8th, 4th, 10th), but qualified 23rd. Ryan Newman is the only driver in the top 10 in both qualifying and Happy Hour.

The top 10 in Happy Hour consisted of A.J. Allmendinger, Ron Fellows, Robby Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Patrick Carpentier, Greg Biffle, and Jamie McMurray.

Out of 20 Cup races run at Sonoma – one per year since 1989 – five of them (25%) have been won from the pole – most recently by Jeff Gordon in 2004. 15 of the 20 races (75%) were won from a top-10 starting spot, although, for the last two years, the average starting spot for a race winner was 31st.

Chevy drivers won four straight here from 2003-2006, but it was a Dodge in 2007 with Juan Pablo Montoya and a Toyota in 2008 with Kyle Busch. The last Ford driver to win was Ricky Rudd in 2002.

Goodyear brought a new tire to Infineon this year with a softer tire compound than last year. It is the first time this tire code has been used on a road course in the Cup series.

The first five rows will line up as follows:

Row 1 – Brian Vickers / Kyle Busch

Row 2 – Marcos Ambrose / Tony Stewart

Row 3 – Kasey Kahne / Martin Truex Jr.

Row 4 – Ryan Newman / Elliott Sadler

Row 5 – Boris Said / Matt Kenseth

Odds-makers' Favorites:

Tony Stewart +450
Kyle Busch +500
Juan Pablo Montoya +650

Mid-pack Maybes:

Mark Martin +2000
Jamie McMurray +2000
Greg Biffle +2000

Long-shots to Watch:

Ryan Newman +2500
Kurt Busch +2500
Clint Bowyer +3500

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