NSCS: AUSTIN DILLON WINS COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD AT FONTANA

Austin Dillon won the Coors Light Pole Award on Friday at Auto Club Speedwayand will lead the field to Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

This is the Richard Childress Racing driver’s first pole win this season and his second of his Sprint Cup Series career.

Starting next to Dillon on the front row at Fontana will be Kevin Harvick. The 2014Sprint Cup Series champion earned his first and only win at Auto Club in 2011.

Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards complete the top five in the starting lineup. Rookie Chase Elliott showed some speed and qualified eighth for his first start at Fontana.

Defending race winner Brad Keselowski qualified 15th. California nativeJimmie Johnson, who has earned five wins at Fontana, qualified 19th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 27th after getting loose in the first round and losing speed. Earnhardt’s best recent finish at Auto Club came in 2013 when theHendrick Motorsports driver was a runner up to now-Sprint Cup Series championKyle Busch.

The Sprint Cup Series returns to the track Saturday at 11 a.m. ET (FS2) for its second practice session of the weekend.

2016 NSCS Auto Club 400 Starting Lineup

Pos	Car	Driver	Team	Time	Speed
1	3	Austin Dillon	American Ethanol Chevrolet	38.2	188.482
2	4	Kevin Harvick	Jimmy John’s Chevrolet	38.231	188.329
3	11	Denny Hamlin	Sport Clips Toyota	38.372	187.637
4	31	Ryan Newman	Caterpillar Chevrolet	38.446	187.276
5	19	Carl Edwards	Subway Toyota	38.457	187.222
6	18	Kyle Busch	M&M’s 75 Toyota	38.459	187.212
7	6	Trevor Bayne	AdvoCare Ford	38.52	186.916
8	24	Chase Elliott #	NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet	38.545	186.795
9	22	Joey Logano	AAA Southern California Ford	38.594	186.557
10	1	Jamie McMurray	McDonald’s Chevrolet	38.638	186.345
11	47	AJ Allmendinger	Food4Less/Scott Products Chevrolet	38.775	185.687
12	5	Kasey Kahne	Farmers Insurance Chevrolet	38.371	187.642
13	27	Paul Menard	FVP/Menards Chevrolet	38.401	187.495
14	21	Ryan Blaney #	Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford	38.404	187.48
15	2	Brad Keselowski	Wurth Ford	38.455	187.232
16	34	Chris Buescher #	Love’s Travel Stops Ford	38.471	187.154
17	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Toyota	38.497	187.028
18	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Fastenal Ford	38.6	186.528
19	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe’s/Superman Chevrolet	38.648	186.297
20	20	Matt Kenseth	DeWalt Toyota	38.654	186.268
21	44	Brian Scott #	Albertsons Co/White Tail Ford	38.673	186.176
22	16	Greg Biffle	Ford EcoBoost Ford	38.694	186.075
23	13	Casey Mears	GEICO Chevrolet	38.757	185.773
24	14	Brian Vickers	Jnssn Arnie’s Army Chrtble Fndtn Chevrolet	38.797	185.581
25	43	Aric Almirola	Smithfield Ford	38.627	186.398
26	41	Kurt Busch	Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chevrolet	38.69	186.095
27	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Nationwide/Batman Chevrolet	38.693	186.08
28	7	Regan Smith	AIPAC Chevrolet	38.773	185.696
29	15	Clint Bowyer	Visine Chevrolet	38.785	185.639
30	95	Michael McDowell	WRL General Contractors Chevrolet	38.817	185.486
31	10	Danica Patrick	TaxAct Chevrolet	38.898	185.099
32	42	Kyle Larson	Target Chevrolet	38.921	184.99
33	83	Matt DiBenedetto	Cosmo Motors Toyota	39.001	184.611
34	38	Landon Cassill	MDS Transport Ford	39.091	184.186
35	23	David Ragan	Dr Pepper Toyota	39.333	183.052
36	98	Cole Whitt	Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters Chevrolet	39.485	182.348
37	30	Josh Wise	SBC Contractors Chevrolet	39.571	181.951
38	46	Michael Annett	Pilot Flying J Chevrolet	39.865	180.61
39	32	Jeffrey Earnhardt #	Can-Am Ford	39.908	180.415