Kahne wins 2nd pole in 3 weeks
Kahne was the third driver to make his qualifying attempt and his lap around the twisting track at 92.153 mph was good enough to hold the top spot for the entire session. It was his second pole of the season, and second in three weeks.
It’s Kahne’s best start at a road course, bettering the second-place qualifying effort he made at Watkins Glen in 2006. His highest start in Sonoma was sixth that same season.
“To get the pole is always very difficult, especially at these tracks,” Kahne said. “There’s certain guys that seem like they are right there. We’ve been close here in the past, we’ve been close at Watkins Glen. So I felt I could make that one lap and come close to the pole and today we had a great Dodge and we were able to get it.
“I came in today thinking I had a good shot, but winning a pole at Infineon is tougher than it sounds.”
Jimmie Johnson qualified second with a lap at 92.040 and Kurt Busch was third with a lap at 92.005.
Kahne has been on an incredible run since winning the All-Star race last month, backing it up with victories in the Coca-Cola 600 and two weeks ago at Pocono. He was second last week in Michigan.
Bobby Labonte qualified fourth and was followed by five-time Infineon winner Jeff Gordon, Elliott Sadler and Marcos Ambrose. Robby Gordon, Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle rounded out the top 10.
Defending race winner Juan Pablo Montoya qualified 21st and two-time Sonoma winner Tony Stewart was a season-worst 39th.
“I guarantee this is the worst we’ll ever have started on a road course,” Stewart said. “Right now it’s going to be a long way to go.”
Series points leader Kyle Busch needed two qualifying runs after his team failed to remove a strip of tape that was blocking air intake to his car on his first attempt. His second run earned him a season-worst 30th place position.
Failing to make the race were J.J. Yeley, Scott Riggs, Dario Franchitti and Brandon Ash.
Of the many road-racing “ringers” in the field, Boris Said was the best qualifier at 14th. Ron Fellows was 22nd in a one-week fill-in ride for Regan Smith at Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Scott Pruett, a replacement for Reed Sorenson at Chip Ganassi Racing, was 27th and Max Papis, who is filling at Haas-CNC Racing this week, was 28th. Brian Simo also made the race with the 41st starting position.
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Starting lineup
Infineon Raceway – Sonoma, CA
Pos No. Driver Car Time
1. 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 77.740 seconds (92.153 m.p.h.)
2. 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 77.836
3. 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 77.865
4. 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge 77.918
5. 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 77.935
6. 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 78.003
7. 21 Marcos Ambrose Ford 78.023
8. 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 78.097
9. 12 Ryan Newman Dodge 78.279
10. 16 Greg Biffle Ford 78.340
11. 45 Terry Labonte Dodge 78.340
12. 99 Carl Edwards Ford 78.487
13. 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 78.547
14. 60 Boris Said Ford 78.568
15. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 78.585
16. 22 Dave Blaney Toyota 78.589
17. 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 78.598
18. 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 78.604
19. 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 78.606
20. 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 78.676
21. 42 Juan Montoya Dodge 78.704
22. 01 Ron Fellows Chevrolet 78.715
23. 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet 78.739
24. 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 78.764
25. 1 Martin Truex, Jr. Chevrolet 78.768
26. 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 78.784
27. 41 Scott Pruett Dodge 78.808
28. 66 Max Papis Chevrolet 78.838
29. 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet 78.895
30. 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 78.904
31. 38 David Gilliland Ford 78.906
32. 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 78.922
33. 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 78.931
34. 00 Michael McDowell Toyota 78.991
35. 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 79.032
36. 84 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota 79.152
37. 10 Patrick Carpentier Dodge 79.270
38. 6 David Ragan Ford 79.286
39. 20 Tony Stewart Toyota 79.337
40. 8 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 79.399
41. 28 Travis Kvapil Ford owner points
42. 44 David Reutimann Toyota owner points
43. 34 Brian Simo Chevrolet 79.481