NASCAR at California 2018 Qualifying Results: Martin Truex Jr. Takes Pole

Martin Truex Jr. won the pole for the Auto Club 400 on Sunday after posting the fastest time in Friday's qualifying.

It marks the 17th time in Truex's career that he has won the pole. The No. 78 car's time of 38.592 led the field, and Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Erik Jones and Austin Dillon rounded out the top five.

Here's a look at how qualifying shook out, courtesy of NASCAR's official website:

2018 Auto Club 400 Qualifying

1. Martin Truex Jr. (38.592)

2. Kyle Busch (38.619)

3. Kyle Larson (38.683)

4. Erik Jones (38.770)

5. Austin Dillon (38.770)

6. Joey Logano (38.798)

7. Kurt Busch (38.880)

8. Ryan Blaney (38.903)

9. Ryan Newman (38.903)

10. Kevin Harvick (39.038)

*Full results can be found at NASCAR's official website

Qualifying Tidbits

For the second consecutive week, nobody could catch Truex in qualifying:

He was unable to capitalize on winning the pole last week, finishing in fifth place at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. 

This week's pole could lead to some movement among the top of the leaderboard. Both Truex and Kyle Busch, who qualified first and second, respectively, trail the red-hot Harvick by 12 points in the Series. Starting up front does not guarantee a victory, but it certainly is a nice advantage to have.

Last year's pole winner, Kyle Larson, took home the checkered flag. He will once again start near the front of the pack this year in the third spot.

It was a record-setting day for Harvick, who set a track mark—per NASCAR.com—in the first round of qualifying with a speed of 188.744 mph, topping the 188.511 set by Denny Hamlin in 2016:

Harvick enters this weekend on a three-race winning streak, having won in Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix. As NASCAR on Fox noted, the last driver to win four consecutive races was Jimmie Johnson all the way back in 2007.

It wasn't a smooth week for everyone, however:

Of course, there was some time for some fun during the day:

Now that qualifying is in the books, the stage is set to see if anyone can end Harvick's winning streak.