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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Carl Edwards takes the pole for road course race at Sonoma

Carl Edwards smiles during a media conference after qualifying for the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Sonoma, California. (Ben Margot / Associated Press)
Associated Press

Carl Edwards edged AJ Allmendinger to earn the stop starting spot Sunday on the road course race at Sonoma (California) Raceway.

Edwards ran a lap at 95.777 mph around the 10-turn, 1.99-mile track in qualifying Saturday to put his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the top starting spot for the third time this season.

“Man this car is fast,” said Edwards, the winner at Sonoma in 2014.

AJ Allmendinger qualified second with a lap at 95.676 mph in his JTG Daugherty Chevrolet. Allmendinger was last year’s pole winner and believed he had a shot at it again on Saturday.

“When I saw Carl’s first lap, I was like, I don’t care what kind of lap I run, I’m never going to catch that,” Allmendinger said. “There’s no pressure on me. He’s won here before. We just have to go out and have a solid day.”

Despite being one of the best road course racers in NASCAR, Allmendinger has just one victory – two years ago at Watkins Glen. A win Sunday would give him a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

Martin Truex Jr. qualified third in a Toyota for Furniture Row Racing, while Kurt Busch was fourth for Stewart-Haas Racing. Kyle Larson completed the top five, as Chevy drivers took three of the top five spots.

IndyCar

A late tire change during qualifying earned Will Power the pole for the IndyCar Series race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

He’ll start in the front row for the 202-mile Kohler Grand Prix on Sunday with a qualifying-best lap of 141.379 mph.

Scott Dixon qualified second and Tony Kanaan third.

Power, the 2014 series champion, won his 44th career pole. He’s coming off his first victory of the season on June 5 at Detroit.

The Team Penske driver also earned the 499th pole in all racing series in the 50-year history of the organization.

Truck Series

Christopher Bell prevailed in a two-lap sprint after the last of three re-starts for his first victory of the season in the rain-delayed NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Madison, Illinois.

The 20-year-old Bell held on to beat Ben Rhodes, the pole sitter in the 200-mile race. It was the 50th victory in the series for Kyle Busch Motorsports and the third this season by three drivers.

The final re-start at Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis lasted more than 12 minutes. It had entertainment value when John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher grappled with wrestling-style takedowns and exchanged punches.

The start was delayed about 1 1/2 hours by showers. Qualifying was canceled and practice times determined the grid.