FONTANA, Calif. — Jamie McMurray has gone from winning the Daytona 500 to sitting on the pole in California.
After a whirlwind week of appearances and interviews as the champion of NASCAR’s season opener and biggest race, McMurray got back into the cockpit of his No. 1 Chevrolet on Friday and qualified first with a lap of 183.744 mph at the 2-mile superspeedway.
“I am so amazed at the week I’ve had, and then to come here to be able to be on the pole,” McMurray said. “I really can’t believe it. It’s just pretty awesome.”
McMurray captured his fourth career pole, his first at California, and will be joined on the front row by Earnhardt Ganassi teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, who ran a lap of 183.477 mph to qualify second.
Clint Bowyer qualified third in another Chevy, which has an engine also built by Earnhardt-Childress Racing, like the ones in the McMurray and Montoya cars. Kasey Kahne was fourth in his No. 9 Ford, followed by Dave Blaney in a Toyota. The highest-qualifying Dodge was Sam Hornish Jr. in eighth.
After all the responsibilities that came with winning at Daytona, which he said he definitely enjoyed, McMurray still looked forward to getting back into the car.
“Getting in the car . . . it was going to be easier than what I had to do Monday through Thursday. I was like, honestly, whew, I can’t want to get back to the race track so I can rest,” McMurray said. “It’s just been so busy.”
Kalitta leads top fuel qualifying
CHANDLER, Ariz. — Doug Kalitta led top fuel qualifying in the NHRA Arizona Nationals, while Matt Hagan (funny car) and Mike Edwards (pro stock) topped their divisions.
