August 2008 Pole Sitter: #48-Jimmie Johnson, 180.397, finished 1st

February 2009 Pole Sitter: #83-Brian Vickers, 183.439, finished 10th

Track Qualifying Record: #5-Kyle Busch, Feb 2005, 188.425mph

Oldest Pole Winner: Mike Skinner, 42 years, 10 months, 2 days, 4/30/2000

Youngest Pole Winner: Kyle Busch, 19 years, 9 months, 25 days, 2/27/2005

Fastest Last Practice Speed: #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, 183.556mph, scheduled to qualify 21st out of 45 drivers

Hamlin on pole at Auto Club: #11-Denny Hamlin won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway with a lap of 183.870mph for his 1st pole of the season and 7th career pole. #00-Reutimann was 2nd fastest followed by #16-Biffle, #48-Johnson, #42-Montoya, #1-Truex, Jr., #20-Logano, #29-Harvick, #33-Bowyer, and #5-Martin.
The non Top-35 drivers who made the race: #87-Nemechek, #13-Papis, #82-Speed, #09-Bliss, #78-Smith, #71-Gilliland, #66-Blaney and #36-McDowell.
The two drivers who failed to qualify: #37-Raines and #64-Wallace.(10-9-2009)

Reutimann's time disallowed: UPDATE: #00-David Reutimann, who was second fastest in qualifying, had his time disallowed after the rear shock was determined to have a gas level too high. He will now start the race in 42nd. No other penalties are expected.(10-9-2009)
UPDATE: Michael Waltrip twittered Friday night that there were 25psi more than the maximum allowed in the shock. Michael Waltrip Racing checked their gauge against NASCAR's and found that MWRs was off.(10-10-2009)

Qualifying Fast Facts - Auto Club Speedway:
Denny Hamlin won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Pepsi 500 with a lap of 39.158 seconds, 183.870 mph.
This is his seventh pole in 145 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. Hamlin's last pole came at Richmond International Raceway on May 3, 2008.
This is his first pole and 14th top-10 start in 2009.
This is his first pole in eight races at Auto Club Speedway.
David Reutimann (second) posted his 12th top-10 start of 2009 and his second in six races at Auto Club Speedway.
Greg Biffle (third) posted his seventh top-10 start at Auto Club Speedway. It is his 12th in 30 races this season.
Joey Logano (seventh) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR Statistics)(10-9-2009)

Where the 2009 Chase Drivers start at Auto Club Speedway:
1) #5-Mark Martin, starts 10th
2) #48-Jimmie Johnson, 4th
3) #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, 5th
4) #14-Tony Stewart, 21st
5) #2-Kurt Busch, 25th
6) #11-Denny Hamlin, 1st
7) #24-Jeff Gordon, 11th
8) #16-Greg Biffle, 3rd
9) #39-Ryan Newman, 37th
10) #99-Carl Edwards, 12th
11) #9-Kasey Kahne, 26th
12) #83-Brian Vickers, 33rd(10-9-2009)

Coverage of Qualifying for the Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway is scheduled for Friday, October 9, 2009 at 6:40pm/et.
TV: SPEED - 6:30pm/et
Radio: MRN Radio and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio
Qualifying Re-Air: none scheduled

Pole Progression: (who had the pole first, who got it next and who ended up with it)
#9-Kahne, 1st out to qualify, 180.741mph, starts 26th
#11-Hamlin, 3rd out to qualify, 183.870, starts 1st

How did the non Top-35 teams do in qualifying?
Fastest 7 get in, 8th [43rd] spot goes to most recent past champ not in the race already or 8th fastest
[45 entered for 43 spots]:
have qualified for the race:
#87-Joe Nemechek, 181.383mph
#13-Max Papis, 181.305mph
#82-Scott Speed, 180.945mph
#09-Mike Bliss, 180.845mph
#78-Regan Smith, 180.650mph
#71-David Gilliland, 180.524mph
#66-Dave Blaney, 180.144mph
#36-Michael McDowell, 179.033mph
have made a qualifying attempt:
will miss the race:
#37-Tony Raines, 178.191
#64-Mike Wallace, 177.971mph

Rookie of the Year Candidates:
how fast were they and where do they start:
#13-Max Papis (X), 181.305mph, starts 16th
#20-Joey Logano, 182.223 mph, starts 7th
#82-Scott Speed (X), 180.945 mph, starts 22nd
(X) = needs to race their way in to the race
DNR = Did not race
DNQ = Did not qualify for race

Some Qualifying Notes:
#24-Gordon and #42-Montoya both scrubbed the wall coming off turn four. No serious damage but it slowed each driver down slightly.

Practice Results:
Practice Speeds Page

Fastest Qualifier by Manufacturer::
Toyota: #11-Hamlin, 183.870, starts 1st
Ford: #16-Biffle, 182.704, starts 3rd
Chevy: #48-Johnson, 182.645, starts 4th
Dodge: #44-Allmendinger, 181.420, starts 13th

Race info at: Race Info Page

Event Entry List

Past Champions Provisional page

All Time Sprint Cup Pole Winners

After the 5th race of the season, the current season OWNERS points are used:
#1) - First 35 by current Owner Points [team does not have to attempt all the races]
#2) - Last Years Cup Champ or the Event Champion if not already in the field
#3) - Car Owners whose team has won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#4) - Drivers who have won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#5) - Past Nextel Cup Champions not in by 1 thru 4
#6) - Qualifying Attempts with Owners points as the tie breaker
#7) - Qualifying Order Position
(all above apply as long as the team was entered by the entry deadline - usually 7-13 days before the race)