Backstretch Motorsports

Qualifying Fast Facts
Infineon Raceway
Toyota/Save Mart 350

Coors Light Pole Winner: Brian Vickers
Age: 25
Team : No. 83 - Red Bull Toyota
Owner: Dietrich Mateschitz
Crew Chief: Ryan Pemberton

Brian Vickers won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 with a lap of 76.475 seconds, 93.678 mph.
This is his ninth pole in 188 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his fourth pole and eighth top-10 start in 2009.
This is his first pole in five races at Infineon Raceway. Vickers’ best previous start at Infineon Raceway was 18th. His best previous road race start was 17th at Watkins Glen International.

How was your qualifying lap?

“We had a really good car. I just went out there and qualifying has never been my best here.” explained Vickers. “I’ve always tried to attack the curbs and use the curbs and you always make a mistake. You make a mistake at a road course and you leave a lot on the table. The Red Bull Toyota guys did a tremendous job coming here and practicing and we wanted to make no mistakes. I think I left something on the table, but maybe I didn’t. I was just really cautious and hit my marks and not hit the curbs and it paid off.”

This is the first time in 2009 that Toyotas have qualified one-two-three. The only other time the manufacturer claimed the top three qualifying positions was at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 7, 2007.

Kyle Busch (second) posted his 12th top-10 start of 2009 and his first in five races at Infineon Raceway.

How have you turned into such a great road course racer?

“The racing part is okay, the qualifying part was the problem.” says Busch. “I thought that was a really good lap, I wasn’t expecting it to get beat. I know practice times were a little faster but with the way the track is a little greased up, I didn’t expect it to go that fast. I thought it was a good lap and we got beat. We’ll take that and it’ll be a good starting spot for us. Hopefully we can keep it up front all day.”

Marcos Ambrose (third) posted his second top-10 start at Infineon Raceway. It is his third in 16 races this season.

How do you think the double file restarts will be here on Sunday?

“It’s going to spice it up, there’s no doubt about that.” grinned the affable Aussie. “I think there’s going to be a clear outside groove that is going to be more traction off the line. I think it’s going to make it very interesting going into the first corner. I’m sure as the race goes on there are going to be a few cautions as the restarts are coming everyone will start to jostle for position late in the race. That being said, I’ve had a lot of races where we do start two-by-two. You can do it, but it’s going to be entertaining for the fans. I’m sure guys are going to have an advantage on the inside. We’ll see how it all plays out. I think we are always waiting to see how it looks and feels before we make any strong comments on it.”

Joey Logano (12th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

Starting Line Up by Row
Infineon Raceway
Toyota/Save Mart 350

Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Ernie Irvan 06/07/92 02:17:26 81.413
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 76.475 93.678
2 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s / Transformers Toyota 76.690 93.415
Row 2: 3 47 Marcos Ambrose Little Debbie / Kingsford / Clorox Toyota 76.918 93.138
4 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Old Spice Chevrolet 77.000 93.039
Row 3: 5 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 77.040 92.991
6 1 Martin Truex Jr. GE reveal Chevrolet 77.048 92.981
Row 4: 7 39 Ryan Newman Haas Automation Chevrolet 77.076 92.947
8 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Tools Dodge 77.081 92.941
Row 5: 9 08 Boris Said Ford 77.084 92.938
10 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 77.097 92.922
Row 6: 11 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 77.108 92.909
12 20 Joey Logano # The Home Depot Toyota 77.144 92.865
Row 7: 13 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 77.174 92.829
14 5 Mark Martin CARQUEST / Kellogg’s Chevrolet 77.202 92.796
Row 8: 15 16 Greg Biffle 3M / Post-it Ford 77.248 92.740
16 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet 77.254 92.733
Row 9: 17 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 77.319 92.655
18 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge 77.325 92.648
Row 10: 19 66 Dave Blaney PRISM Motorsports Toyota 77.450 92.498
20 44 A J Allmendinger Best Buy Dodge 77.462 92.484
Row 11: 21 07 Casey Mears Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 77.505 92.433
22 7 Robby Gordon Menards / Jim Beam Toyota 77.506 92.432
Row 12: 23 26 Jamie McMurray IRWIN Vice-Grip Ford 77.556 92.372
24 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 77.568 92.358
Row 13: 25 96 Bobby Labonte Ask.com Ford 77.570 92.355
26 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet 77.612 92.305
Row 14: 27 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 77.615 92.302
28 43 Reed Sorenson Valvoline Dodge 77.824 92.054
Row 15: 29 09 Ron Fellows Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort 77.833 92.043
30 98 Paul Menard Johns Manville /Menards Ford 77.880 91.988
Row 16: 31 87 Joe Nemechek Nemco Motorsports Toyota 77.926 91.933
32 71 David Gilliland Adobe Road Winery Chevrolet 77.997 91.850
Row 17: 33 13 Max Papis # GEICO Toyota 78.059 91.777
34 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 78.082 91.750
Row 18: 35 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Amp Energy / National Guard / Mtn Dew 78.287 91.509
36 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 78.350 91.436
Row 19: 37 04 P J Jones Jim Beam / Menards Toyota 78.359 91.425
38 55 Patrick Carpentier NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 78.806 90.907
Row 20: 39 12 David Stremme No. 12 Penske Dodge 78.811 90.901
40 6 David Ragan UPS Ford Owner Points
Row 21: 41 34 John Andretti Taco Bell Chevrolet Owner Points
42 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Owner Points
Row 22: 43 02 Brandon Ash Efusjon Energy Club Dodge 78.641 91.098
Did Not Qualify: # 82 Scott Speed #; # 27 Tom Hubert; # 37 Chris Cook; # 36 Brian Simo.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 15 0 Ford 8 0
Dodge 8 1 Toyota 12 3