Carl Edwards has been on fire this season and Saturday he showed no signs of cooling off anytime soon. Edwards put down a lap of 1:14:799 seconds, 95.777 mph with just over two minutes left in the final round of two rounds of qualifying and will lead the field to the green for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
“That was good,” said Edwards who also led the first 25 minute qualifying round. “My first lap was amazing, the car was really good and then I wasn’t sure about the second lap. It was good enough and that tells you how good the car is.”
The pole is the 19th of the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers career, his third of the season and his first at Sonoma where he won in 2014. AJ Allmendinger, known for his road course prowess had the pole briefly after his lap on the 12 turn road course, only to watch Edwards grab the top spot just behind him forcing Allmendinger to settle for second. Martin Truex Jr., winner here in 2013, will start third with Kurt Busch who led much of the final 10 minutes will start fourth followed by Kyle Larson in fifth.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
- NASCAR to debut new short track package at Phoenix - February 28, 2023
- The Wrench Who Stole Racing - December 16, 2022
- Matt DiBenedetto’s excellent run comes to abrupt, violent end - February 17, 2019
