Austin Dillon won the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Fontana Friday, claiming the spot for the first time this season at a top speed of 188.482 mph (303.332 kph). Dillon turned a lap in 38.2 seconds flat in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, edging Kevin Harvick by .031 seconds. Dillon's only previous pole in 90 career races was at the Daytona 500 in 2014 at the start of his first full Sprint Cup season. Childress' grandson feels ready now to build on his second pole with his first victory. Dillon was also fastest in practice, putting him in an auspicious position for a breakthrough in Sunday's race. He has three top-10 finishes and an 11th so far this season, but has never finished a race higher than seventh in his Sprint Cup career. Dillon will be the fourth different pole-sitter in five races during this wide-open NASCAR season. Harvick, the California native and 2011 Fontana champion, will start on the front row for the first time this season. Dillon didn't lead either of the first two rounds of qualifying, keeping his tires fresh for a big finish. Denny Hamlin set the track record on the way to third place, with Ryan Newman fourth and Carl Edwards in fifth. The famously well-aged asphalt at this venerable 2-mile (3.2-km) oval is a favorite of drivers for its tests of skill and strategy, but it also wears out tires quickly. While the track speed record was repeatedly surpassed in the opening laps of the first two rounds, most drivers couldn't improve on their early times. A swarm of bees forced track officials to abandon the flag stand before qualifying. With a few straggler bees still remaining after most were removed with a non-lethal spray, the starter instead waved the green flag from an elevated platform on the fan side of the fence. Hamlin finished with the new track record from his second-round lap of 38.194 seconds, hitting 188.57 mph (303.474 kph). Multiple racers broke Kyle Busch's 2005 track speed record in qualifying after doing the same in practice, showing the real effects of NASCAR's new low-downforce package. Kasey Kahne advanced through the first two rounds, but didn't complete a lap before time expired in the final round, forcing him to start 12th Sunday.
