FONTANA, Calif. – Kasey Kahne will lead his teammates to the green flag Sunday at Fontana.
The driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to make it to the final round of qualifying and will roll off the grid in 12th.
Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not advance past Round 2 and will start in 13th and 18th, respectively.
Due to an incident in Friday’s first practice session, Jimmie Johnson did not participate in qualifying.
“I just felt it was wiser to get the car prepared correctly rather than qualify poorly,” said No. 48 team crew chief Chad Knaus. “I wasn’t comfortable putting Jimmie in a position where he would have to hustle a car that he hasn’t turned a lap in yet. We want to be prepared to put the best race car on the track for our driver, Lowe’s, Chevrolet and all of our sponsors. So, we are going to take the time to do that by working on it this afternoon.”
According to owner points, Johnson will start Sunday’s race in 37th.
“It’s not a position we want to be in,” Johnson said. “We are going to make sure we get the backup car right and take advantage of the precious minutes that we have in tomorrow’s race practices.”
Kyle Larson -- utilizing a Hendrick Motorsports engine -- earned the pole position.
Sunday’s race is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.