Rookie Phenom Austin Cindric Wins Fontana Cup Pole

FONTANA, Calif – RIS - Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric continued his momentum by claiming the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway.  Cindric (174.647 mph), driving the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, turned the fastest lap among 10 drivers in the final round of qualifying on the two-mile oval in Fontana, California.

Ten drivers advanced from qualifying sessions within their respective groups, Group A and Group B.  Three drivers spun on their final round attempts, including the last driver to take one, Chase Elliott.  Elliott’s loop around in Turn 4 was one of multiple incidents during Saturday’s practice/qualifying event. In all, 10 of the 36 cars entered for Sunday either spun or crashed.

Not only are Cup drivers and teams re-learning Auto Club after a two-year absence, but they’re also continuing to come to grips with the new Next Gen car. This weekend marks its first appearance on an intermediate-size track.

“It’s certainly been crazy and I feel like I anticipated it,” Cindric said before winning the pole. “It’s such a challenging race track and, obviously, a lot of newness for everybody.”

Qualifying alongside Cindric on the front row was Petty GMS Motorsports’ Erik Jones, who posted a final round lap of 174.157 mph in his No. 43 Chevrolet.

Prior to qualifying were two, 15-minute practice sessions for each group.Four notable incidents took place during those sessions, which had windy conditions.

The biggest occurred in the Group A session. Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain went straight into the Turn 4 wall hard, while RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher spun out in the middle of Turns 3 and 4.

Starting Line Up by Row, 25th Wise Power 400,Auto Club Speedway
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed
1) Austin Cindric #, No. 2 Menards/Quaker State Ford, 41.226 sec, 174.647 mph
2) Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Chevrolet, 41.342, 174.157
3) Kyle Busch, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 41.437, 173.758
4) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 41.529, 173.373
5) Daniel Hemric(i) No. 16 Poppy Bank Chevrolet, 41.585, 173.139
6) Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Wurth Ford, 41.588, 173.127
7) Joey Logano, No. 22 AAA Southern California Ford, 42.197, 170.628
8) Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 41.177, 174.855
9) Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Violet Defense Ford, 41.403, 173.900
10) William Byron Jr., No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 41.478, 173.586
11) Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet, 41.516, 173.427
12) Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Reser's Fine Foods Toyota, 41.517, 173.423
13) Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 41.594, 173.102
14) Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 41.634, 172.936
15) Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, 41.636, 172.927
16) Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Coatings Chevrolet, 41.678, 172.753
17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Ralphs/Honey Nut Cheerios Chevrolet, 41.688, 172.712
18) Ty Dillon, No. 42 Allegiant Chevrolet, 41.777, 172.344
19) Christopher Bell, No. 20 Rheem Toyota, 41.888, 171.887
20) Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 41.888, 171.887
21) Cole Custer, No. 41 Production Alliance Group Ford, 41.940, 171.674
22) Harrison Burton #, No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford, 41.989, 171.473
23) Michael McDowell, No. 34 Stage Front Ford, 42.056, 171.200
24) Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford, 42.140, 170.859
25) Corey LaJoie, No. 7 General Formulatioins/Mutoh Chevrolet, 42.188, 170.665
26) Todd Gilliland #, No. 38 Frontline Enterprises Inc. Ford, 42.505, 169.392
27) Cody Ware, No. 51 Nurtec ODT Ford, 42.634, 168.879
28) Josh Bilicki(i) No. 77 Pacific Coast Termite Chevrolet, 42.957, 167.609
29) Garrett Smithley, No. 15 Jacob Companies Ford, 43.953, 163.811
30) BJ McLeod, No. 78 Pala Casino Ford, 44.103, 163.254
31) Aric Almirola, No. 10 Rush/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford, 0.000, 0.000
32) Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Subway Ford, 0.000, 0.000
33) Ross Chastain, No. 1 Casa Del Sol Tequila Chevrolet, 0.000, 0.000
34) Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Wheaties Toyota, 0.000, 0.000
35) Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 0.000, 0.000
36) Kurt Busch, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota, 0.000, 0.000 
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie