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Martin Truex Jr. on the pole for second straight week at Fontana

By Nick Tylwalk

FONTANA, CA - MARCH 16: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota, poses with the Busch Pole Award after qualifying on the pole for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on March 16, 2018 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
FONTANA, CA - MARCH 16: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota, poses with the Busch Pole Award after qualifying on the pole for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on March 16, 2018 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /
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On a day when more than a third of the field didn’t even make a qualifying lap, Martin Truex Jr. was again the fastest car in qualifying trim.

Defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. isn’t having any trouble at all starting races up front. Now he just has to figure out a way to finish them there as well.

Busch Beer took over sponsorship of the pole award this week, but that change made no difference to Truex, who will start from P1 for the second straight week. Kyle Busch will try to win the Auto Club 400 on Sunday from the outside of Row 1, finishing less than three tenths of a second behind Truex in the final round of qualifying at Fontana.

Until Truex made his final run, most of the talk was about who didn’t even get a shot at it. A total of 13 of the 37 drivers entered in the race never even made it out of technical inspection to take a shot at qualifying, including all four Hendrick Motorsports cars. Some other big names, including Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer will start 25th or lower. Conversely, drivers like Gray Gaulding and Jeffrey Earnhardt will enjoy their best Cup Series starting spots ever.

Next: Could a Monster Energy NASCAR renewal announcement come this weekend?

That could make the race interesting as some fast cars figure to be making their way up through the field, but of course all eyes will be on Kevin Harvick as he goes for his fourth straight win. Coverage of the Auto Club 400 begins on FOX at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday.

Auto Club 400 qualifying results from Auto Club Speedway

  1. Martin Truex Jr.
  2. Kyle Busch
  3. Kyle Larson
  4. Erik Jones
  5. Austin Dillon
  6. Joey Logano
  7. Kurt Busch
  8. Ryan Blaney
  9. Ryan Newman
  10. Kevin Harvick
  11. Brad Keselowski
  12. Chris Buescher
  13. Trevor Bayne
  14. Paul Menard
  15. Jamie McMurray
  16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  17. Ty Dillon
  18. Matt DiBenedetto
  19. Bubba Wallace
  20. Gray Gaulding
  21. David Ragan
  22. Michael McDowell
  23. Jeffrey Earnhardt
  24. Reed Sorensen
  25. Denny Hamlin
  26. Clint Bowyer
  27. Aric Almirola
  28. Alex Bowman
  29. William Byron
  30. Daniel Suarez
  31. Chase Elliott
  32. AJ Allmendinger
  33. Jimmie Johnson
  34. Kasey Kahne
  35. Timmy Hill
  36. Ross Chastain
  37. Cole Whitt
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