Brian Vickers Takes the Pole at Fontana for NASCAR Cup Race

Brian Vickers, in his Red Bull Toyota No. 83, took the pole for the Auto Club 500 race under the sunny skies of Fontana, Calif.  Vickers secured the pole with a time of 39.25.

Jimmie Johnson in his Kobalt Tools No. 48 came in a close second.  Johnson was fastest in practice, but just missed Vickers' quick qualifying time.

Jamie McMurray had an amazing run and will start in the third position.  Back together again with crew chief Donnie Wingo, Jamie Mac seems to be on a good roll for this weekend's race.

Starting fourth will be Kurt Busch in the blue deuce.  Rounding out the top five is Greg Biffle, the next highest qualifying Roush car.

Jeff Gordon, second in practice, had a good qualifying lap and will start the race in the sixth spot.  Gordon was grinning from ear to ear after practice and his qualifying effort.

David Reutimann, in the No. 00 Toyota, came in with a quick run, taking the seventh spot in the starting lineup.

Richard Petty Motorsports driver A.J. Allmendinger, driving for his life in qualifying, became the fastest go-or-go-homer.  The Dinger will start the race in the eighth position.

Vickers' teammate and rookie Red Bull driver Scott Speed had a great lap.  Speed will start in the ninth position in his No. 82 Toyota.

Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10 in the qualifying session for Sunday's race.

Michael Waltrip has had an eventful weekend already.  Although he wasn't aboard, his team plane had to make an emergency landing at the airport in Las Vegas.

Waltrip's team then had to board a bus to make the remainder of trip to the California Speedway.

But Mikey's woes were not over.  As he tried to get his car up to speed for his qualifying run, it wouldn't go and he radioed in that he thought a plug wire was off.

Waltrip brought his car back to pit road and went on the five-minute qualifying clock.  The crew, working feverishly, got Michael out onto the track.

But again, the No. 55 Napa Toyota had troubles on the track, losing power and coasting back to pit road.  Unfortunately, Michael had taken the green flag, so his lap will count.

Fortunately, Waltrip is locked into the race.  But with his qualifying woes, he will have to start the race from the rear of the field.

Several cars failed to qualify and will have to make the long, cross-country trip home.  Those out of the race included Todd Bodine, Tony Raines, Mike Garvey, David Starr, and Sterling Marlin.

Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs with Tommy Baldwin Racing, the dream team at the Daytona 500, locked themselves into the show with their qualifying efforts. Travis Kvapil found his way into the race as well.

Final knock out qualifying dramatically came down to a duel between two veterans.  Sterling Marlin had to compete against Joe Nemechek's time to make it into the show.

After stalling his car out before taking the track, Marlin looked like he might make it past Nemechek, but he continued to lose time and failed to qualify.  This locked Nemechek in as Last Row Joe for the race.

After qualifying was over, pole sitter Brian Vickers said that he felt they had climbed yet another step up with their race team.

"We had a good car in practice, but honestly I didn't think it was a pole car," said Vickers.  "The late draw didn't hurt us nearly as much as we thought."

With the field set, the Cup drivers will surrender the track to the Camping World Truck and Nationwide teams tomorrow.  The Cup teams will then set sail into the California sun late on Sunday afternoon.