SONOMA – Marcos Ambrose had never won a Sprint Cup Series pole before last week. Now he has two in a row.
Ambrose on Friday won the top starting spot for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 with a fast lap around the 1.99-mile road course at Sonoma.
He knocked off Jimmie Johnson, then waited to see if Jeff Gordon could beat him.
Gordon, the last driver to attempt to qualify, just missed the pole, finishing second in the qualifying session.
Johnson was third, followed by Greg Biffle and Michael Waltrip Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer. Brothers Kyle and Kurt Busch qualified seventh and eighth.
Ambrose won his first pole in 134 races last week at Michigan.
• Thanks in part to Dale Earnhardt Jr., ticket sales for Sunday's race have surged in recent days and are just about on track with what they were for the last year's race.
Raceway general manager Steve Page said that until last week, ticket sales for the event were slightly behind last year, when roughly 90,000 were sold. But Earnhardt's victory at the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway last Sunday was a boon to the Sonoma track.
Nationwide Series in Elkhart Lake, Wis. – After a frightening crash at Talladega, Eric McClure had to sit out six weeks because of the lingering effects of a concussion.
Now he has received clearance from NASCAR officials and was back in his No. 14 car, practicing for today's race at Road America.
IndyCar in Newton, Iowa – Dario Franchitti, the Indianapolis 500 winner, won the pole for tonight's Iowa Corn Indy 250.
Graham Rahal, Tony Kanaan and E.J. Viso were penalized 10 spots on the starting grid for the race because of unapproved engine changes.
Formula One in Valencia, Spain – Two-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel was the fastest driver through two practice sessions for Sunday's European Grand Prix.
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