AJ Allmendinger has set the fastest time in qualifying at Sonoma, the first of only two road course races of the NASCAR season.

Allmendger, who held off a determined Marcos Ambrose, to win at the Sprint Cup’s other road course race at Watkins Glen last year, will share the front row with Kurt Busch.

With race winners all but guaranteed a spot in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, Allmendinger will be one of the hot favourites to win the race.

Although known as a road course specialist, it was his third career NASCAR pole and first on a track which requires drivers to right as well as left.

Allmendinger set a time of 1:14.385, 0.166-sec faster than Kurt Busch; who lost his best lap when brother Kyle spun at Turn 10 to bring out a red flag with 7:03 left in the final 10-minute session.

“It’s a solid start, but the prize is tomorrow,” said Allmendinger.

“We knew that, if we go do our job, and if I do my job tomorrow, and we have solid pit stops, and we just take care of business, at the end we should give ourselves a chance. And that’s all we can ask for.”

The road course races over recent years had always drawn focus on Marcos Ambrose, but his replacement, Sam Hornish Jr., will have plenty of work to do starting down in 24th.

QUALIFYING: Toyota – Save Mart 350 : Sonoma Raceway

POS.	CAR #	DRIVER	MANUFACTURER	SPONSOR	MPH	BEST TIME	BEHIND
1	47	AJ Allmendinger		Kingsford Charcoal	96.310	74.385	Leader
2	41	Kurt Busch		Haas Automation	96.095	74.551	–0.166
3	20	Matt Kenseth		Dollar General	96.001	74.624	–0.239
4	42	Kyle Larson		Viva Vantage	95.932	74.678	–0.293
5	24	Jeff Gordon		AARP MEMBER ADVANTAGES	95.905	74.699	–0.314
6	15	Clint Bowyer		5-Hour Energy	95.884	74.715	–0.330
7	14	Tony Stewart		Mobil 1 / Bass Pro Shops	95.663	74.888	–0.503
8	13	Casey Mears		No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS	95.563	74.966	–0.581
9	55	David Ragan		Aaron’s Dream Machine	95.497	75.018	–0.633
10	2	Brad Keselowski		Alliance Truck Parts	95.298	75.175	–0.790
11	18	Kyle Busch		M&M’s Crispy	95.293	75.179	–0.794
12	78	Martin Truex Jr		Furniture Row/Visser Precision	95.177	75.270	–0.885
13	48	Jimmie Johnson		LOWE’S PRO SERVICES	95.756	74.815	–0.430
14	19	Carl Edwards		Stanley	95.733	74.833	–0.448
15	11	Denny Hamlin		FedEx Freight	95.554	74.973	–0.588
16	31	Ryan Newman		WIX Filters	95.531	74.991	–0.606
17	4	Kevin Harvick		Folds of Honor / Outback Steakhouse / Budweiser	95.477	75.034	–0.649
18	1	Jamie McMurray		CESSNA	95.436	75.066	–0.681
19	22	Joey Logano		Shell Pennzoil	95.417	75.081	–0.696
20	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr		Microsoft	95.390	75.102	–0.717
21	10	Danica Patrick		GoDaddy	95.366	75.121	–0.736
22	16	Greg Biffle		Ortho Ford Fusion	95.345	75.138	–0.753
23	95	Michael McDowell		KLOVE Radio	95.336	75.145	–0.760
24	9	Sam Hornish Jr		Jacob Companies	95.208	75.246	–0.861
25	43	Aric Almirola		Nathans Famous	95.084	75.344	–0.959
26	5	Kasey Kahne		Great Clips	95.006	75.406	–1.021
27	51	Justin Allgaier		Brandt	94.920	75.474	–1.089
28	38	David Gilliland		Love’s Travel Stops	94.841	75.537	–1.152
29	35	Cole Whitt		Uponor	94.805	75.566	–1.181
30	83	Matt DiBenedetto		Burger King	94.714	75.638	–1.253
31	6	Trevor Bayne		Advocare Ford Fusion	94.534	75.782	–1.397
32	27	Paul Menard		Richmond/Menards	94.527	75.788	–1.403
33	32	Boris Said		Loss Prevention Group	94.477	75.828	–1.443
34	23	J.J. Yeley		Dr Pepper	94.441	75.857	–1.472
35	34	Justin Marks		Dockside Logistics	94.320	75.954	–1.569
36	33	Alex Kennedy		Media Cast	94.132	76.106	–1.721
37	3	Austin Dillon		Dow	94.048	76.174	–1.789
38	98	Josh Wise		Dogecoin	93.996	76.216	–1.831
39	40	Landon Cassill		TBA	92.970	77.057	–2.672
40	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr		Fastenal Ford Fusion	92.958	77.067	–2.682
41	7	Alex Bowman		Golden Corral	92.885	77.128	–2.743
42	46	Michael Annett		Bene-fit	92.378	77.551	–3.166
43	26	Jeb Burton		Maxim Fantasy Sports	92.251	77.658	–3.273

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