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McMurray races to pole
By The Associated Press
Saturday, June 23, 2007 | No comments posted.
SONOMA, Calif. - Jamie McMurray outdrove the road racing specialists and the rest of the contenders Friday to win his first pole in nearly two years.
McMurray posted his lap of 1 minute, 17.521 seconds (92.414 mph) on the 1.99-mile Infineon Raceway road course midway through the session, then had to wait for NASCAR's top qualifier Ryan Newman and former Formula One star Juan Pablo Montoya, both at the rear of the qualifying line, to try to knock him off.
But Newman wound up ninth at 1:17.826 (92.062) and Montoya came up way short at 1:18.746 (90.976), good for 32nd.
Robby Gordon, considered one of the best road racers in NASCAR, was second to McMurray at 1:17.533 (92.399), followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. at 1:17.546 (92.384), road racing ace Boris Said at 1:17.06 (92.313) and former Sonoma winner Tony Stewart at 1:17.659 (92.263).
Rounding out the top 10 in qualifying were Jeff Burton, part-time racer Bill Elliott, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer.
Like Elliott, Terry Labonte, who came out of retirement to drive for Michael Waltrip in the two Nextel Cup road races this year, didn't have to use a former series champion's provisional to make the lineup.
Labonte, who retired last November, qualified 25th to help Waltrip's team put all three of its Toyotas in the field for the first time since the season-opening Daytona 500. Dale Jarrett was 16th and P.J. Jones, a road racing specialist driving in place of rookie David Reutimann, qualified 34th.
Perhaps the biggest surprise in the field is Belgian road racer Marc Goossens, who qualified for his second Cup start. He was 21st.
Sunday will be the debut of NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow and McMurray gave Said a lot of credit for his latest pole, noting that Said has done all the road course testing of the Roush Fenway team's COT.
“Boris did a great job,” McMurray said. “They tested four or five times getting ready for this race. We unloaded here and ran my first four or five laps and said, ‘The car feels great.' It had a lot of speed in it.
“You just can't do it unless you have a lot of testing going on and guys developing it for you. Boris was in the second seat when I took my first ride in a stock car on a road course and he has helped just about everybody in this series learn the fundamentals of road racing. He's an incredible teacher and road racer.”
McMurray posted his lap of 1 minute, 17.521 seconds (92.414 mph) on the 1.99-mile Infineon Raceway road course midway through the session, then had to wait for NASCAR's top qualifier Ryan Newman and former Formula One star Juan Pablo Montoya, both at the rear of the qualifying line, to try to knock him off.
But Newman wound up ninth at 1:17.826 (92.062) and Montoya came up way short at 1:18.746 (90.976), good for 32nd.
Robby Gordon, considered one of the best road racers in NASCAR, was second to McMurray at 1:17.533 (92.399), followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. at 1:17.546 (92.384), road racing ace Boris Said at 1:17.06 (92.313) and former Sonoma winner Tony Stewart at 1:17.659 (92.263).
Rounding out the top 10 in qualifying were Jeff Burton, part-time racer Bill Elliott, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer.
Like Elliott, Terry Labonte, who came out of retirement to drive for Michael Waltrip in the two Nextel Cup road races this year, didn't have to use a former series champion's provisional to make the lineup.
Labonte, who retired last November, qualified 25th to help Waltrip's team put all three of its Toyotas in the field for the first time since the season-opening Daytona 500. Dale Jarrett was 16th and P.J. Jones, a road racing specialist driving in place of rookie David Reutimann, qualified 34th.
Perhaps the biggest surprise in the field is Belgian road racer Marc Goossens, who qualified for his second Cup start. He was 21st.
Sunday will be the debut of NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow and McMurray gave Said a lot of credit for his latest pole, noting that Said has done all the road course testing of the Roush Fenway team's COT.
“Boris did a great job,” McMurray said. “They tested four or five times getting ready for this race. We unloaded here and ran my first four or five laps and said, ‘The car feels great.' It had a lot of speed in it.
“You just can't do it unless you have a lot of testing going on and guys developing it for you. Boris was in the second seat when I took my first ride in a stock car on a road course and he has helped just about everybody in this series learn the fundamentals of road racing. He's an incredible teacher and road racer.”
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