FONTANA >> As he zoomed down the backstretch at Auto Club Speedway Friday afteoon on the last round of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying, Austin Dillon focused on wiing the pole.

“It means everything. That is what I said down the backstretch,” the Richard Childress Racing driver said after the intense three-round session. “A Daytona 500 pole sitter, now I got a pole somewhere else.

“To do it at a drivers race track like this at Fontana it means a lot to me. Just proud of this American Ethanol team; I knew going into that third session if I didn’t make mistakes, I would have a shot.”

As hard as it may be to believe, the last RCR pole was Dillon’s at the 2014 Daytona.

Dillon, grandson of the team owner and driving the No.3 Chevrolet, covered the two-mile distance in 38.200 seconds, a speed of 188.482 mph. He was able to edge out Kevn Harvick by 0.031 seconds.

Dey Hamlin, RCR teammate Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards made up the top five for Sunday’s Auto Club 400. Kyle Busch, Trevor Bayne, rookie Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Jamie McMurray comprise the top 10. Hamlin was tops among Ford drivers and Bayne was the top Ford qualifier

Dillon was 14th in the first session at 38.413, which was led by 2015 event wier Brad Keseselowski at 38.200, Dillon moved to the third spot in the second session with a 38.209 runsthat trailed just Hamlin and Elliott among the top 24 from the initial session.

Hamlin’s 38.194 at 188.511 broke the track record of 188.245 set by teammate Kyle Busch in 2005.

“We’ve had fast cars all year long, and I knew going into that third session, if I didn’t make mistakes I would have a shot. I just stayed with it off of (Tu) 4. I kept my locker locked as much as I could with the gas just keeping as much fuel to the car as I could. It worked out for us.”

Dillon’s efforts were the result of a strategy by team engineers.

“We wanted to be from 13th to 24th in that first (round),” Dillon said. “We were 13th (tied with Busch) on the front side of that. On the second run I was a little tight. We just kept freeing the car up a little bit there to help ourselves in that third run and it all worked out.”

It was his best qualifying showing under the new NASCAR downforce rules.

“I figure everybody was going to have the same stuff as I’ve got and I’ve got to go out there and get better as a driver. We went to work,” said Dillon, who will compete in his third Cup event at ACS. “I have always had this drive as a driver to want to get better and to work hard. I think the right group of people is around me supporting me, showing me the right things to get better, pointing me in the right direction each time I come off the track somebody is talking to me on improving.

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“Also, my engineers are doing a good job of not being satisfied with just good. Good isn’t good enough. That is making me a better driver. I enjoy the encouragement and the push from those guys.”

Harvick was third and fourth in the first two sessions before finishing second.

Each round was a little bit different,” he said. “The second round, I had a little traffic getting onto the race track. The first round was pretty clean. I didn’t really change anything.

“I think I caught the inside of that seam with the right-side tires a little more than I wanted to through (tus) 1 and 2 and it just started to step out and I had to pedal it three or four times down there because it was loose.,” he said about the third-round effort.

“All in all, a good day for our team (Stewart-Haas Racing), and hopefully we can cap that off with a win when we get done on Sunday,” he said.

Hamlin was looking forward to the main event.

“We’ve run so well here; this is one of my top three tracks on the list that I haven’t won at that I really want to win at really bad,” said Hamlin, who missed the 2014 race due to an eye injury. “We’ll see how it all tus out, but I’m pretty confident.

“It was a pretty easy day for us. We didn’t have to change a whole lot. I was pretty happy with it, I just messed up a little bit on that final run and cost us a little bit of time. Other than that, not too bad.”

Bayne was the highest qualifier among the 11 Fords in te race, ruing for the Wood Brothers who have usually skipped this race.

“The cooler temperatures kind of threw our adjustments off a little bit. It shaded up in three and four and I just got too loose on that last run,” he said. “ I think maybe if we kept it closer to what we did the second round on adjustments, we might have had a shot at the pole, but Austin laid down a really fast lap time for three rounds.

“To run a .20 after three runs on tires is pretty stout, but I can’t complain about a seventh-place starting spot. It’s good to have track position here and now we’ve got to work on race trim.”

Live updates: Regional Championship Basketball – Saturday, March 19

LONG BEACH >> Patience is a virtue, and it helped the Long Beach State Dirtbags draw a season-high 13 walks in an 8-3 win over Columbia on Friday night at Blair Field.

“There were a lot of free opportunities, obviously,” Long Beach State head coach Troy Buckley said—it was the first time his team has drawn 10+ walks since recording 12 against Utah Valley on Feb. 22 of last year. “But there comes a point where you still have to think hit even though the ball isn’t consistently in the strike zone, and I didn’t think we did that enough.”

The Dirtbags (13-5) got another strong start from Darren McCaughan, the Los Alamitos High grad, who moved to 4-0 on the year. The righty celebrated his birthday by scattering four hits in six-plus iings of work while striking out six, which ties a season high. McCaughan hasn’t allowed more than one run in his four starts.

“I didn’t feel tired,” McCaughan said after five days rest. His mom threw out the first pitch. “It’s a great way to spend a birthday.”

Leadoff hitter Garrett Hampson had two RBIs to give Long Beach State an early lead, and catcher David Banuelos smashed a 3-run home run in the seventh iing for insurance runs.

Freshman Jacob Hughey came out of the bullpen and struck out four batters in the final two iings.

The Dirtbags opened the scoring with four runs in the second iing. Walks and an error loaded the bases, and freshman Brooks Stotler brought home the first run with a walk. After a Columbia pitching change, shortstop Garrett Hampson worked the count full and drove a 2-RBI double into the opposite field gap. Alex Muzzi would also plate Stotler with a sacrifice bunt. Stotler would be replaced by fellow freshman Domenic Coacchio and he would plate Dominguez with his first hit as a Dirtbag in the fifth iing.

Columbia got on the board in the seventh iing when Logan Boyher leadoff with his first home run of the season off of the left field foul pole. After McCaughan gave up a walk and a flair single, his throwing error plated another run and ended his night. Junior Josh Advocate came out of the bullpen and allowed a sacrifice fly RBI that cut the lead to 5-3.

A walk and an error put two ruers on for Long Beach State catcher Davis Banuelos to crush the first pitch he saw over the left field fence to erase the 3-run iing for the Lions. Banuelos went 2-for-3 with three runs batted in, giving him his first career multi-hit game and matching his career high in RBIs.

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“The hit by Banuelos was huge,” Buckley said. “It was a big hit. We were aggressive, first pitch, ruer in scoring position, it was a nice job.”

These two teams will be back at Blair Field at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

The smile on Byron Scott’s face widened as he gushed about Brandon Bass’ hustle. Scott chuckled when he recalled Bass’ refusal to wear a mask to protect his recently poked eye.

So it seemed expected when Scott earlier told Bass four words that conveyed how he hopes his NBA future unfolds.

“‘I love you here,’” Scott recalled telling Bass.

With a player option next season worth $3.1 million, Bass can avoid much attention as he has all season by exercising it. Or Bass can open opt out in hopes for a longer deal either with the Lakers or elsewhere. As Scott predicted, “I’m sure he’ll get a bunch of offers.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Bass told Los Angeles News Group. “I’m a special type of player and person to be around this type of group. I think I can help develop these young guys. I want them to be successful. I would love to see them grow and would love it to be here. But you never know what happens.”

Bass has averaged a modest 7.0 points and 4.3 rebounds. But after nursing an eye injury that kept him out of Tuesday’s contest against Sacramento, Bass retued on Friday against Phoenix off of a recent tear. In the previous 11 contests, Bass has averaged 10.2 points on 60.7 percent shooting and 5.0 rebounds.

“I just try to go out there and play the right way,” Bass said. “I let things happen instead of trying to force the issue.”

That might have gone uoticed amid Kobe Bryant’s farewell and the development of D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson. But not to Scott.

“I love Brandon Bass,” said Scott, who coached him in New Orleans during his rookie season (2005-06). “I love his work ethic. I love his professionalism. I love his attitude. I love that you know when you put him in the game, you know what you’re going to get.”

The Lakers are going to get a rebounder. The Lakers are going to get a undersized, 6’8, 250-pound forward who makes up for his height disadvantage with quickness. The Lakers are going to get a 10-year veteran eager to mentor his younger teammates more with actions than with words.

“I feel like doing all the right things defensively and offensively,” Bass said. “With moving the ball, communicating with them and doing little things, they can put in the back of their head, ‘This is how we’re going to play. That’s how we’re going to succeed.’”

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After playing with Chris Paul in New Orleans, Bass has recently told Lakers rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell to emulate how he runs the Clippers’ offense.

“‘Control the game and make everybody better,’” Bass recalled saying. “‘Its’ your responsibility as a point guard to know where everybody is good at and how to get everybody involved.”

Memory lane

While former UCLA standouts Earl Watson and Baron Davis struggled to pay attention in class, Kobe Bryant spent all of that time working.

Watson, the Suns’ coach, frequently saw Bryant report to the Wooden Center before Lakers training camp for a workout begiing at 7:45 a.m. Watson would then see Bryant leave the gym around 1:45 p.m. only to retu for pick-up scrimmages at 3 p.m.

“Kobe set the tone for Baron and I to work hard, stay focused, be extreme and be an addict to our game,” Watson said. “The game of basketball became his addiction.”

The noise level reached fever pitch, and the reasons had everything to do with Kobe Bryant.

This did not involve Bryant leading the Lakers to a win, making a shot or even playing. The fanfare centered on Bryant strolling to the Lakers’ bench before watching a mess unfold in the form of a 95-90 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Friday at Staples Center.

That partly explains the sudden excitement among the 18,997 at Staples Center since the game offered little to cheer until the Lakers cut a 19-point deficit in the final moments. But Lakers forward Ryan Kelly missed two foul shots and was called for basket interference on the next possession.

Before that, most of the attention centered on Bryant, who missed his sixth game in the previous 10 contests because of his sore right shoulder.

Unlike Bryant’s other absences, the Lakers did not expect this.

“I don’t know what changed,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “It was good this moing. This afteoon, it didn’t feel good.”

The Lakers (14-55) didn’t look good, either. They nearly set a franchise record for fewest points in a game, something the 2002-03 team still holds with a 70-point effort in Cleveland on Nov. 5, 2002. The Lakers also set a season-low with fewest points scored in the second quarter (10 points on 4-of-24 shooting).

That might bring fanfare during the NBA draft lottery in New York City on May 17. The Lakers have a five-game cushion over the Phoenix Suns (19-50) for the NBA’s second-worst record, which gives the Lakers a 55.8 percent chance of keeping their top-3 protected pick and 19.9 percent odds at finishing No. 1. But Scott scoffed at such talk.

“If you intentionally go out there and try to lose games, that type of karma is going to come back on you,” Scott said. “I’m going to coach to try to win these games and I hope our players come out and try to win.”

They may have tried. But the Lakers still went 31-of-86 from the field, including poor shooting nights from D’Angelo Russell (2-of-10), Jordan Clarkson (2-of-13) and Julius Randle (1-of-9), none of whom played in the fourth quarter.

Lakers reserve guard Lou Williams was the lone player both to score in double digits (30) and shoot above 50 percent (10-of-17).

But does Scott find it off-putting that the NBA awards teams with better chances to land a top pick because of poor records?

“I could be critical about it with certain parts of it,” Scott said. “But obviously last year it worked out pretty good for us.”

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Then, the Lakers landed the No. 2 pick despite finishing with the league’s fourth-worst record. Hence, Scott sounded open toward becoming the team’s draft representative again along with Lakers spokesman John Black.

“Just give me great talent and chemistry, we’ll win,” Scott said. “That’s what John and I did last year.”

The Lakers could not say the same thing about their own roster against Phoenix. So, plenty of fans seemed more interested in Bryant, who has consistently retued only for road games and home contests against marquee players or opponents.

But Scott offered Bryant some sympathy, arguing, “When he tells me he can’t go, I know he’s hurting.”

“He has to think about himself more than anything and his future after basketball,” Scott said. “He doesn’t want to do damage to his shoulder so much that in 5-10 years from now he has to go get surgery again.”

Key plays: Jamie McGi and Ryan Kesler scored 1:16 apart in the opening minutes of the first period and the Ducks went on to take a 4-0 victory Friday from the Boston Bruins at the Honda Center. The win moved the Ducks within four points of the Pacific Division-leading Kings.

Pivotal performer: Team captain Ryan Getzlaf assisted on goals by McGi and Hampus Lindholm to help the Ducks take a commanding 3-0 lead by the opening minute of the third period. Getzlaf has seven goals and 21 points in his past 19 games.

Between the pipes: Frederik Andersen retued to the Ducks’ net one game earlier than expected because John Gibson was too ill to play. It would have been Gibson’s tu to start in Boudreau’s two-on, two-off goalie rotation. Andersen made 38 saves for his fifth career shutout.

Familiar faces: Boudreau reunited The Twins, Getzlaf and Corey Perry, for Friday’s game. McGi joined them on the Ducks’ top line. David Perron, Rickard Rakell and Brandon Pirri formed the second line. Rakell scored the Ducks’ fourth goal.

— Elliott Teaford

After setting a franchise record with 11 consecutive victories, after vaulting temporarily into first place in the Pacific Division standings, after solidifying a Stanley Cup playoff bid, maybe a lull was inevitable for the Ducks.

If the Ducks were worried they had reverted to their head-scratching play of October and November they weren’t going to admit it before facing the Boston Bruins on Friday at the Honda Center. If they were conceed their invincible aura was damaged they weren’t saying so.

The Ducks were 1-3-1 in their last five games before facing the Bruins.

“We’ve played some pretty good hockey,” Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said, delivering a state of the team address after the moing skate. “We went on a run there that, obviously, we knew wasn’t going to last the whole season. We knew that. That’s the way hockey is.

“It’s a matter of responding and playing the right way most nights. Or every night, for that matter. There’s no reason we can’t play the right way every night. We’re not going to win every night. … We’ve just got to continue playing properly and building toward the end.”

The number of regular-season games has reached a manageable number, with the end of the 82-game slog now within sight. The Ducks had 12 left, including Friday’s matchup against the Bruins, and they were feeling good about themselves and their second-place standing in the Pacific.

The Ducks faced a six-point deficit, however. They also were only a point in front of the third-place San Jose Sharks. They were all but assured of one of the top three spots and a guaranteed playoff berth, with the fourth-place Arizona Coyotes trailing by 16 points.

It remained to be seen if they could catch the division-leading Kings.

Or whether it was worth the time and effort.

“Honestly, I don’t think that’s the most important thing,” Ducks defenseman Kevin Bieksa said of chasing a fourth consecutive division championship at the expense of resting and preparing for what could be a lengthy playoff run in April, May and perhaps June.

If the playoffs started Friday, the first-place Kings would have played the Nashville Predators, the first wild-card team, in the first round. The second-place Ducks would have faced the third-place Sharks and would have held home-ice advantage.

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“We feel pretty comfortable we’re going to be in the top three,” Bieksa said. “San Jose or L.A. pick your poison, right? They’re two great teams. The key is to be playing good hockey, to be playing the right way, roll together some wins and feel good about yourself going into the postseason.”

Bieksa’s retu to the lineup after a two-game absence because of a lower-body injury figured to give the Ducks a boost. They were without defenseman Sami Vatanen for the fourth game because of an upper-body injury and center Nate Thompson for the third game because of a lower-body ailment.

After a so-so start in his first season with the Ducks, after a trade June 30 from the Vancouver Canucks, Bieksa has combined with Cam Fowler to form a steady defense pair for coach Bruce Boudreau. Bieksa, who had four goals and 14 points before Friday, wanted back in the lineup.

“You don’t want to let off the gas,” he said.

FONTANA >> As he zoomed down the backstretch at Auto Club Speedway Friday afteoon on the last round of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying, Austin Dillon focused on wiing the pole.

“It means everything. That is what I said down the backstretch,” the Richard Childress Racing driver said after the intense three-round session. “A Daytona 500 pole sitter, now I got a pole somewhere else.

“To do it at a drivers race track like this at Fontana it means a lot to me. Just proud of this American Ethanol team; I knew going into that third session if I didn’t make mistakes, I would have a shot.”

As hard as it may be to believe, the last RCR pole was Dillon’s at the 2014 Daytona.

Dillon, grandson of the team owner and driving the No.3 Chevrolet, covered the two-mile distance in 38.200 seconds, a speed of 188.482 mph. He was able to edge out Kevn Harvick by 0.031 seconds.

Dey Hamlin, RCR teammate Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards made up the top five for Sunday’s Auto Club 400. Kyle Busch, Trevor Bayne, rookie Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Jamie McMurray comprise the top 10. Hamlin was tops among Ford drivers and Bayne was the top Ford qualifier

Dillon was 14th in the first session at 38.413, which was led by 2015 event wier Brad Keseselowski at 38.200, Dillon moved to the third spot in the second session with a 38.209 runsthat trailed just Hamlin and Elliott among the top 24 from the initial session.

Hamlin’s 38.194 at 188.511 broke the track record of 188.245 set by teammate Kyle Busch in 2005.

“We’ve had fast cars all year long, and I knew going into that third session, if I didn’t make mistakes I would have a shot. I just stayed with it off of (Tu) 4. I kept my locker locked as much as I could with the gas just keeping as much fuel to the car as I could. It worked out for us.”

Dillon’s efforts were the result of a strategy by team engineers.

“We wanted to be from 13th to 24th in that first (round),” Dillon said. “We were 13th (tied with Busch) on the front side of that. On the second run I was a little tight. We just kept freeing the car up a little bit there to help ourselves in that third run and it all worked out.”

It was his best qualifying showing under the new NASCAR downforce rules.

“I figure everybody was going to have the same stuff as I’ve got and I’ve got to go out there and get better as a driver. We went to work,” said Dillon, who will compete in his third Cup event at ACS. “I have always had this drive as a driver to want to get better and to work hard. I think the right group of people is around me supporting me, showing me the right things to get better, pointing me in the right direction each time I come off the track somebody is talking to me on improving.

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“Also, my engineers are doing a good job of not being satisfied with just good. Good isn’t good enough. That is making me a better driver. I enjoy the encouragement and the push from those guys.”

Harvick was third and fourth in the first two sessions before finishing second.

Each round was a little bit different,” he said. “The second round, I had a little traffic getting onto the race track. The first round was pretty clean. I didn’t really change anything.

“I think I caught the inside of that seam with the right-side tires a little more than I wanted to through (tus) 1 and 2 and it just started to step out and I had to pedal it three or four times down there because it was loose.,” he said about the third-round effort.

“All in all, a good day for our team (Stewart-Haas Racing), and hopefully we can cap that off with a win when we get done on Sunday,” he said.

Hamlin was looking forward to the main event.

“We’ve run so well here; this is one of my top three tracks on the list that I haven’t won at that I really want to win at really bad,” said Hamlin, who missed the 2014 race due to an eye injury. “We’ll see how it all tus out, but I’m pretty confident.

“It was a pretty easy day for us. We didn’t have to change a whole lot. I was pretty happy with it, I just messed up a little bit on that final run and cost us a little bit of time. Other than that, not too bad.”

Bayne was the highest qualifier among the 11 Fords in te race, ruing for the Wood Brothers who have usually skipped this race.

“The cooler temperatures kind of threw our adjustments off a little bit. It shaded up in three and four and I just got too loose on that last run,” he said. “ I think maybe if we kept it closer to what we did the second round on adjustments, we might have had a shot at the pole, but Austin laid down a really fast lap time for three rounds.

“To run a .20 after three runs on tires is pretty stout, but I can’t complain about a seventh-place starting spot. It’s good to have track position here and now we’ve got to work on race trim.”

FONTANA >> If there is any NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver that can relate to the emotions Tony Stewart is going through, it’s Brian Vickers. Ironically, Vickers will drive in Stewart’s place this weekend at Auto Club Speedway.

Stewart, who will retire as a driver at season’s end, is sidelined by injuries (including a broken back) suffered in an off-season sand-dune buggy incident in Glamis. Vickers, has replaced him in two of the four races thus far this season, is familiar with such a situation, having taken time off four times since 2010 to deal with his own medical issues that included a hole in his heart and blood clots.

Vickers will drive the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet.

“As much as I want to race this car as long as I can, I really want to see Tony back in it,” Vickers said during a press session Friday at moing. “I have been in his shoes. I know exactly what it’s like.”

That’s because he missed the Fontana stop a year ago due to clots. He missed the first two races of the 2015 season recovering from heart surgery, raced at Las Vegas and Phoenix but was pulled out of the Auto Club 400 two days before the event. He never retued to the track.

It’s a bit different this time around. He’s splitting time with Ty Dillion in the car and his next race is at Martinsville in two weeks. However, there’s nothing official after that from SHR.

“I’m really thinking long term; I just want to get through tomorrow,” said Vickers. “I am loving the weekend-off, weekend-on thing. That has been very relaxing, very fun. I get to race, but I also get some time off. (I’m) really pumped about (Martinsville) to kind of continue that forward. Then we are figuring out everything from there.

“Nothing has really changed. Everyone is really just kind of waiting to see how Tony shakes out. It’s his last season; he deserves to be in this car as much as he can be. I’m happy to tu the keys back over as soon as he’s ready.”

Vickers was in a dual capacity at his press briefing. Today’s Xfinity Series race is the Treatmyclot.com 300. He’s appeared in television commercials with Aold Palmer on behalf of the blood-clot medication and Sunday’s car is sponsored by Aie’s Army Charitable Foundation.

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So, how was it filming with the 86-year-old Aie on the golf course?

“Although he hasn’t been playing 18 holes lately, he can still putt,” Vickers said. “We had some putting and chipping competitions and he just crushed all of us. We tried and tried and tried and then he steps up and made like six out of seven. It just kept going in. Not a single other person could make this 30-foot putt. That is when we realized – he’s still got it.”

Track report

More than 20 years after the pavement on the backstretch at ACS, it’s still talked about

“You could write a book about a lap at this place,” said Carl Edwards Friday moing aftaer the first practice session. “There’s so much happening out there: where you place your tires, how you enter the coer, what the guy in front of you is doing. All of those things add up to a lot different balance. Tus 1 and 2, as many times as I’ve been here, I still don’t feel like I have it figured out.

“There’s spots that I like to run, there’s things I like to do, but there’s some spots out there and it’s like, man, I can’t quite figure out what’s happening. When you hit this point in the race track and the car moves and I can’t repeat it all of the time, so you never really know what you’re going to get. I think that’s good. It’s a little bit unpredictable, it’s definitely tough and, to me, that’s part of the fun.”

A former Cup wier at the track, Edwards qualified fifth for Sunday’s race with a fast lap of 187.222 mph. Austin Dillon won the pole at 188.482.

Haas down under

The Haas F1 Team, owned by Gene Haas who is partnered with Stewart in NASCAR, made its debut Friday in the first practice sessions for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix in Melboue. Both practice sessions were conducted amid intermittent showers, forcing drivers to primarily navigate the 5.303-kilometer (3.295-mile), 16-tu Albert Park Circuit on either on a full wet tire or intermediates.

The team recorded 32 laps between the two sessions, 14 laps in the first practice and then 18.

Romain Gutiérrez was 11th quickest (1:42.891) in the second session while Esteban Grosjean was 13th (1:43.731). Mercedes; Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes was the quickest at 1:38.841.

Pit stops

John Lynch, a 15-year NFL veteran with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Denver Broncos, will drive the pace car Sunday before the Sprint Cup race. A nine-time Pro Bowl selection, he is currently an analyst. … Roger Penske built the speedway (then Califoia Speedway) that opened in 1997 after several years of construction. This marks Penske’s 50th aiversary in racing and the track will pay tribute to him by painting the Team Penske 50th Aiversary logo on the infield grass. … In October of 1990, Andretti Smith started his career as a Wood Brothers crew member. However, that streak ended last week in Phoenix while he recovered from an injury suffered in Las Vegas handling a gas can. Instead of the track, he spent race day watching his daughter play T-Ball. “Honestly, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” Smith told PitTalk.com.

We showed up at the track today with a lot of enthusiasm. Since my move to Joe Gibbs Racing this has been one of our better tracks, especially when it comes to qualifying.

Although the day didn’t tu out how we hoped it would, it could have been much worse. We have a couple hours of practice tomorrow to get it dialed in and it’s a long race Sunday.

With the tire limit we have for the weekend, and the way the track chews them up, we decided to limit our practice laps and just work on the qualifying setup today. From the first lap on the track we just did not have the feel or drivability in the car that I was looking for. We made a lot of changes and just never really got it where we could make any speed.

This track is incredibly rough and is very tricky to negotiate. With the coers being so long, you have to get out of the throttle a little more than the next guy or the car bottoms out and you just lose so much time. It’s always a hard balance here between aero and mechanical grip. You have to have a combination of both but it’s hard to get it fast and driving good at the same time.

Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and the team made some great changes for qualifying and the car drove much better than practice. We were still off a good bit on speed compared to the best cars, and we made it through round one but that was all we had today.

So, we’re starting mid-pack (20th). But, we’ve got a great pit crew and a great team. We’ll work hard on our race setup during the two practice sessions tomorrow and hopefully get it right for Sunday.

The good news is this is probably one of the best tracks to pass at on the circuit.

It’s incredibly wide, has really long sweeping coers, and a very unique surface.

If you’re faster than the guy in front of you, you typically have a fighting chance of getting around him and to continue to move forward.

This has always been one of my favorite race tracks and I can’t wait to get to work in the moing. And, like everyone that has a mediocre Friday says, “It’s just a starting position!”

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