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The last time NASCAR's set of elite drivers took to a road course San Jose, California's A.J. Allmendinger celebrated in Victory Lane.

Allmendinger took a major step to defending his road course title when he qualified first for Sunday's Toyota/SaveMart 350 from Sonoma Raceway. Allmendinger recorded a speed of 96.310 mph in knockout qualifying's final session to clinch the top spot.

"It was a weird session because we got that red flag early on when I was out there," Allmendinger said. "I kind of had to reset myself. It was strange because lap times didn't seem that fast the first wave of cars that went out there and as soon as that red flag came out it was like cars fired off back out there and put down some big laps. I knew if I went out there and hit my marks we should have a good shot at it. Both laps were pretty solid. You can always nit pick and find a little more here and there. I just tried to make sure I hit my marks and get everything out of it and it worked out."

This is the first time Allmendinger has won the pole for a road course event in the Sprint Cup despite his prowess for the events. The pole is the third of his career and the first for JTG Daugherty Racing, who scored their first Sprint Cup victory last season with Allmendinger's victory at Watkins Glen.

Kurt Busch, who won at Sonoma in 2011, will join Allmendinger on the front row.  Busch was attempting to make a run in the final session until his brother, Kyle Busch, spun out to bring out the caution which froze the field and disallowed the lap. Busch believes the dangerous situation robbed him of a lap which was better than the pole winning run of Allmendinger.

"It was an eventful qualifying group," Busch explained. "Both the first session and the second session with different cars having trouble and going off course making it to where we had to abort our lap. The one that was exciting was my little brother spun in turn ten and my spotter who is on top of the drag tower said there was a car off. When you hear car off that means you're still clear to run through there. I was just talking to NASCAR and there are the local waving blue flags that might have been out as I went through there. It was a dangerous situation but the way it all turned out that still didn't allow us to go complete our lap which was disappointing because that lap was two tenths quicker than Allmendinger's pole lap."

Matt Kenseth will start in third followed by California natives Kyle Larson and Jeff Gordon.

Clint Bowyer qualified sixth with two time Sonoma winner Tony Stewart taking the seventh position. Bakersfield, California's Casey Mears laid down the session's eighth place lap with David Ragan and Brad Keselowski rounding out the top ten.

Despite the spin Kyle Busch still managed to qualify for the 11th starting spot. Carl Edwards won this race last season and will start in the 14th position.

Brendan Gaughan was the only driver who did not make the field of 43.

Time Trial Results
Sonoma Raceway
27th Annual Toyota/Save Mart 350
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sat, June 27, 2015 @ 03:52 PM Eastern
Driver    Date    Time    Speed
Track Qualifying Record:    Kyle Larson    06/27/15    74.186    96.568
Pos    Car    Driver    Team    Time    Speed    Lap #    # Laps    -Fastest    -Next
Qualifying Round:    2
1        47    AJ Allmendinger    Kingsford Charcoal Chevrolet    74.385    96.310    1    1    0.000    0.000
2        41    Kurt Busch    Haas Automation Chevrolet    74.551    96.095    2    2    0.166    0.166
3        20    Matt Kenseth    Dollar General Toyota    74.624    96.001    1    1    0.239    0.073
4        42    Kyle Larson    Viva Vantage Chevrolet    74.678    95.932    2    2    0.293    0.054
5        24    Jeff Gordon    AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet    74.699    95.905    1    1    0.314    0.021
6        15    Clint Bowyer    5-Hour Energy Toyota    74.715    95.884    1    1    0.330    0.016
7        14    Tony Stewart    Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet    74.888    95.663    1    1    0.503    0.173
8        13    Casey Mears    GEICO Chevrolet    74.966    95.563    2    2    0.581    0.078
9        55    David Ragan    Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota    75.018    95.497    1    1    0.633    0.052
10        2    Brad Keselowski    Alliance Truck Parts Ford    75.175    95.298    1    3    0.790    0.157
11        18    Kyle Busch    M&M's Crispy Toyota    75.179    95.293    2    2    0.794    0.004
12        78    Martin Truex Jr.    Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet    75.270    95.177    2    2    0.885    0.091
Pos    Car    Driver    Team    Time    Speed    Lap #    # Laps    -Fastest    -Next
Qualifying Round:    1
1        42    Kyle Larson    Viva Vantage Chevrolet    74.186    96.568    1    1    0.000    0.000
2        47    AJ Allmendinger    Kingsford Charcoal Chevrolet    74.220    96.524    2    2    0.034    0.034
3        14    Tony Stewart    Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet    74.326    96.386    3    3    0.140    0.106
4        24    Jeff Gordon    AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet    74.501    96.160    1    1    0.315    0.175
5        2    Brad Keselowski    Alliance Truck Parts Ford    74.598    96.035    1    1    0.412    0.097
6        18    Kyle Busch    M&M's Crispy Toyota    74.598    96.035    2    2    0.412    0.000
7        13    Casey Mears    GEICO Chevrolet    74.624    96.001    3    3    0.438    0.026
8        20    Matt Kenseth    Dollar General Toyota    74.661    95.954    3    3    0.475    0.037
9        41    Kurt Busch    Haas Automation Chevrolet    74.672    95.940    2    2    0.486    0.011
10        15    Clint Bowyer    5-Hour Energy Toyota    74.679    95.931    3    3    0.493    0.007
11        78    Martin Truex Jr.    Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet    74.701    95.902    3    3    0.515    0.022
12        55    David Ragan    Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota    74.797    95.779    1    1    0.611    0.096
13        48    Jimmie Johnson    Lowe's Pro Services Chevrolet    74.815    95.756    3    3    0.629    0.018
14        19    Carl Edwards    Stanley Toyota    74.833    95.733    3    3    0.647    0.018
15        11    Denny Hamlin    FedEx Freight Toyota    74.973    95.554    1    3    0.787    0.140
16        31    Ryan Newman    WIX Filters Chevrolet    74.991    95.531    3    3    0.805    0.018
17        4    Kevin Harvick    FoldsofHonor/OutbackStkhse/Budweiser Chev    75.034    95.477    3    3    0.848    0.043
18        1    Jamie McMurray    Cessna Chevrolet    75.066    95.436    3    3    0.880    0.032
19        22    Joey Logano    Shell Pennzoil Ford    75.081    95.417    3    3    0.895    0.015
20        88    Dale Earnhardt Jr.    Microsoft Chevrolet    75.102    95.390    1    2    0.916    0.021
21        10    Danica Patrick    GoDaddy Chevrolet    75.121    95.366    3    3    0.935    0.019
22        16    Greg Biffle    Ortho Ford    75.138    95.345    3    3    0.952    0.017
23        95    Michael McDowell    KLOVE Radio Ford    75.145    95.336    2    3    0.959    0.007
24        9    Sam Hornish Jr.    Jacob Companies Ford    75.246    95.208    3    3    1.060    0.101
25        43    Aric Almirola    Nathan's Famous Ford    75.344    95.084    3    3    1.158    0.098
26        5    Kasey Kahne    Great Clips Chevrolet    75.406    95.006    3    3    1.220    0.062
27        51    Justin Allgaier    Brandt Chevrolet    75.474    94.920    3    3    1.288    0.068
28        38    David Gilliland    Love's Travel Stops Ford    75.537    94.841    3    3    1.351    0.063
29        35    Cole Whitt    Uponor Ford    75.566    94.805    3    3    1.380    0.029
30        83    Matt DiBenedetto #    Burger King Toyota    75.638    94.714    2    4    1.452    0.072
31        6    Trevor Bayne    AdvoCare Ford    75.782    94.534    4    6    1.596    0.144
32        27    Paul Menard    Richmond/Menards Chevrolet    75.788    94.527    5    5    1.602    0.006
33        32    Boris Said(i)    Loss Prevention Group Ford    75.828    94.477    2    2    1.642    0.040
34        23    JJ Yeley(i)    Dr Pepper Toyota    75.857    94.441    1    3    1.671    0.029
35        34    Justin Marks(i)    Dockside Logistics Ford    75.954    94.320    1    3    1.768    0.097
36        33    Alex Kennedy #    MediaCast Chevrolet    76.106    94.132    2    2    1.920    0.152
37    OP    3    Austin Dillon    Dow Chevrolet    76.174    94.048    4    4    1.988    0.068
38    OP    98    Josh Wise    Dogecoin Chevrolet    76.216    93.996    2    2    2.030    0.042
39    OP    40    Landon Cassill(i)     Chevrolet    77.057    92.970    2    2    2.871    0.841
40    OP    17    Ricky Stenhouse Jr.    Fastenal Ford    77.067    92.958    3    4    2.881    0.010
41    OP    7    Alex Bowman    Golden Corral Chevrolet    77.128    92.885    5    5    2.942    0.061
42    OP    46    Michael Annett    Bene-fit Chevrolet    77.551    92.378    1    1    3.365    0.423
43    OP    26    Jeb Burton #    Maxim Fantasy Sports Toyota    77.658    92.251    2    4    3.472    0.107
44        62    Brendan Gaughan(i)    Chevrolet    77.931    91.927    3    4    3.745    0.273