It might not erase the memories of the Daytona 500, but it didn't exactly hurt, either.
Brian Vickers put his Red Bull Racing car on the pole Friday afternoon at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California in advance of Sunday's Auto Club 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race, helping to at least turn the page on his Daytona 500 wreck with Dale Earnhardt Jr. last week.
"Obviously, the best way to move on from a situation or a controversy is to give them something else to talk about," he said. "We've given them that this week."
Vickers recorded a lap of 183.439 mph while the sun still burned down on the 2-mile track, then watched as no one else could match his efforts as the temperature cooled. The pole position is the sixth of his Cup career.
"It always feels good to be on the pole. ... Probably more important than that is the pit selection -- that's what you're fighting for, in my mind, on Sunday," Vickers said.
Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson (183.164) came closest to knocking Vickers from the top spot, but settled for starting on the outside of the front row.
"The only thing I can think of is Brian and I went to In-N-Out Burger last night," Johnson said. "I had a double-double and he had a single. With that extra patty, five-hundredths of a second killed me."
Jamie McMurray (Roush Fenway Racing), Kurt Busch (Penske Racing) and Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway) rounded out the top five.
Sixth through 10th were Jeff Gordon (Hendrick), David Reutimann (Michael Waltrip Racing), Richard Petty Motorsports’ AJ Allmendinger, rookie Scott Speed (Red Bull) and Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing).
With 48 cars on the entry list, the go-or-go-home situation had some intrigue.
Allmendinger easily qualified his way into the field, with Tony Stewart (Stewart Haas Racing) close behind to assure he wouldn’t have to make use of his past champion’s provisional.
Also making the race were Dave Blaney (Prism Motorsports), David Gilliland (TRG Motorsports), Scott Riggs (Tommy Baldwin Racing), Travis Kvapil (Yates Racing), Jeremy Mayfield (Mayfield Motorsports) and Joe Nemechek (Nemco Motorsports).
Five cars failed to qualify: Todd Bodine (Gunselman Motorsports), Tony Raines (Front Row Motorsports), David Starr (Black Jack Racing), Mike Garvey (H&S Motorsports) and Sterling Marlin (Phoenix Racing).
Michael Waltrip Racing's Michael Waltrip changed an engine following qualifying and will start Sunday's race from the rear of the field.
2009 Auto Club 500 Starting Lineup
| Pos | Driver | Car # | Make | Qual. Speed |
| 1 | Brian Vickers | 83 | Toyota | 183.439 |
| 2 | Jimmie Johnson | 48 | Chevrolet | 183.164 |
| 3 | Jamie McMurray | 26 | Ford | 182.653 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | 2 | Dodge | 182.556 |
| 5 | Greg Biffle | 16 | Ford | 182.302 |
| 6 | Jeff Gordon | 24 | Chevrolet | 182.209 |
| 7 | David Reutimann | 00 | Toyota | 182.089 |
| 8 | AJ Allmendinger | 44 | Dodge | 182.048 |
| 9 | Scott Speed | 82 | Toyota | 181.965 |
| 10 | Kyle Busch | 18 | Toyota | 181.919 |
| 11 | Tony Stewart | 14 | Chevrolet | 181.901 |
| 12 | Robby Gordon | 7 | Toyota | 181.777 |
| 13 | David Ragan | 6 | Ford | 181.726 |
| 14 | Marcos Ambrose | 47 | Toyota | 181.653 |
| 15 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 42 | Chevrolet | 181.616 |
| 16 | Bobby Labonte | 96 | Ford | 181.461 |
| 17 | Reed Sorenson | 43 | Dodge | 181.429 |
| 18 | Mark Martin | 5 | Chevrolet | 181.264 |
| 19 | Kevin Harvick | 29 | Chevrolet | 181.210 |
| 20 | Elliott Sadler | 19 | Dodge | 181.173 |
| 21 | Clint Bowyer | 33 | Chevrolet | 181.137 |
| 22 | Kasey Kahne | 9 | Dodge | 181.132 |
| 23 | Denny Hamlin | 11 | Toyota | 180.836 |
| 24 | Matt Kenseth | 17 | Ford | 180.818 |
| 25 | Carl Edwards | 99 | Ford | 180.773 |
| 26 | Sam Hornish Jr. | 77 | Dodge | 180.746 |
| 27 | Paul Menard | 98 | Ford | 180.610 |
| 28 | Ryan Newman | 39 | Chevrolet | 180.397 |
| 29 | Casey Mears | 07 | Chevrolet | 180.374 |
| 30 | Dave Blaney | 66 | Toyota | 180.320 |
| 31 | Aric Almirola | 8 | Chevrolet | 180.248 |
| 32 | David Gilliland | 171 | Chevrolet | 180.234 |
| 33 | Martin Truex Jr. | 1 | Chevrolet | 180.176 |
| 34 | Joey Logano | 20 | Toyota | 180.059 |
| 35 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 88 | Chevrolet | 179.991 |
| 36 | Scott Riggs | 36 | Toyota | 179.721 |
| 37 | Travis Kvapil | 28 | Ford | 179.632 |
| 38 | David Stremme | 12 | Dodge | 179.390 |
| 39 | Jeremy Mayfield | 41 | Toyota | 179.301 |
| 40 | John Andretti | 34 | Dodge | 179.287 |
| 41 | Jeff Burton | 31 | Chevrolet | 179.109 |
| 42 | Michael Waltrip | 55 | Toyota | |
| 43 | Joe Nemechek | 187 | Toyota | 177.997 |
| 44 | Todd Bodine | 64 | Toyota | DNQ |
| 45 | Tony Raines | 37 | Dodge | DNQ |
| 46 | David Starr | 51 | Dodge | DNQ |
| 47 | Mike Garvey | 73 | Dodge | DNQ |
| 48 | Sterling Marlin | 09 | Chevrolet | DNQ |
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