NASCAR: 2020 Fontana starting lineup – Clint Bowyer on pole

Clint Bowyer took the pole position for the third race on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

In the first regular single-car qualifying session of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season following the traditional multi-session Daytona 500 qualifying and the rained-out session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last Saturday, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer took the pole position for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

Bowyer took the pole position for this 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) oval in Fontana, California by recording a top lap time of 40.086 seconds (179.614 miles per hour) behind the wheel of his #14 Ford in the single-car qualifying session.

This pole position is just the fourth career pole position for the 16-year Cup Series veteran, who took his first pole position since the 2007 season last September at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson, who is set to make his final start as a full-time driver at his home track, nearly took the pole position away from Bowyer on the final qualifying run of the session, but he came up just 0.007 seconds (0.032 miles per hour) shy and qualified in second place in his #48 Chevrolet.

Chevrolet drivers locked out the second row, with Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman qualifying in third place in his #88 Chevrolet and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch qualifying in fourth in his #1 Chevrolet.

Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola locked out the third row in fifth and sixth place in their #4 Ford and #10 Ford, respectively, ahead of two more Ford drivers, Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, on the fourth row in seventh and eighth in their #22 Ford and #34 Ford, respectively.

Chevrolet drivers Kyle Larson of Chip Ganassi Racing and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of JTG Daugherty Racing are set to share the fifth row in ninth and 10th place in their #42 Chevrolet and #47 Chevrolet, respectively.

It was not a good qualifying session for the Toyota drivers and teams. The highest qualifying Toyota driver was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch in 17th place in his #18 Toyota. This comes just one week after he was the highest finishing Toyota driver in 15th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Toyota drivers have just one top 13 finish this season, Denny Hamlin’s Daytona 500 victory.

The #19 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. failed pre-qualifying inspection three times and did not qualify for the race, but it passed on the fourth attempt and will be able to start the race from the rear of the field.

Additionally, the #37 Chevrolet of JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ryan Preece will drop to the rear of the field on the pace laps after his team changed engines. He initially qualified in 20th place, so everyone in the even positions behind him will slide up by one row (22nd to 20th, 24th to 22nd, 26th to 24th, etc.)

Here is the full provisional starting lineup for the 2020 Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

Starting lineup
1st – Clint Bowyer
2nd – Jimmie Johnson
3rd – Alex Bowman
4th – Kurt Busch
5th – Kevin Harvick
6th – Aric Almirola
7th – Joey Logano
8th – Michael McDowell
9th – Kyle Larson
10th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
11th – Chris Buescher
12th – Matt DiBenedetto
13th – Chase Elliott
14th – Bubba Wallace
15th – Brad Keselowski
16th – Ryan Blaney
17th – Kyle Busch
18th – Cole Custer
19th – Tyler Reddick
20th – Christopher Bell
21st – William Byron
22nd – Ty Dillon
23rd – John Hunter Nemechek
24th – Corey LaJoie
25th – Austin Dillon
26th – Denny Hamlin
27th – Ross Chastain
28th – J.J. Yeley
29th – Erik Jones
30th – Brennan Poole
31st – Daniel Suarez
32nd – Joey Gase
33rd – Reed Sorenson
34th – Garrett Smithley
35th – Quin Houff
36th – Timmy Hill
37th – Ryan Preece
38th – Martin Truex Jr.

Tune in to Fox at 3:30 p.m. ET tomorrow afternoon for the live broadcast of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season’s third race from Auto Club Speedway.