Last year's NASCAR Sprint Cup champ Jimmie Johnson (Chevy No 48) grabbed the pole Friday afternoon at the Auto Club Speedway in California for the Pepsi 500. He was the fastest on the 2-mile tri-oval but he was closely followed by A.J. Allmendinger (Camry No 84) and teammate Jeff Gordon (Chevy No 24). Kasey Kahne (Dodge No 9) and Canadian Patrick Carpentier (Dodge No 10 who did not qualify last week at Bristol) will start fourth and fifth followed by their teammate Elliott Sadler (Dodge No 19)! Series point-leader Kyle Busch (Camry No 18) posted the 11th time. Only one driver did not qualify, Tony Raines (Chevy No 70). The Pepsi 500 will be run late Sunday and can be seen live at TSN and RDS (French) at 8:00 pm.
NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson gets the pole in California, Carpentier runs the 5th fastest time