First Sprint Pole for A.J. Allmendinger

A.J. Allmendinger managed to score “a small victory,” in his own words, after managing to score the first pole of his career in the Cup series. Allmendinger drove his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion first across the finish line after averaging 134.675 mph and will start the Subway Fresh Fit 600 from the first position.

“It is exciting to get that first pole. It is a small victory, but it means so much to this race team and me. In this sport, it is all about confidence,” said Allmendinger. “To know we have a good car and to go out there and back it up in qualifying is great. We seemed to be just missing it a little bit each week, so to go out there and get the job done is a big deal.”

Allmendinger will be folowed on the grid by Scott Speed's No. 82 Toyota (134.373 mph), Sam Hornish Jr. (134.198 mph), Marcos Ambrose in his No. 47 Toyota (133.814 mph) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (133.640 mph).

After Allmendinger won the pole for Sunday’s race, it became obvious this was Ford’s weekend in racing. Carl Edwards won the NASCAR Nationwide Series pole in his No. 60 Copart Ford Fusion, while Joe Foster and Ricky Taylor tamed the Barber Motorsports Park road course in GRAND-AM.

“It is great to be a Ford fan right now with a day like today. To be able to pick up the newspaper or go online and see that in any major racing series Ford has the No. 1 spot is a great feeling,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford North America Motorsports. “We have great momentum right now, including our product and sales, and putting four Fords on pole today just adds more momentum to the Ford story.”