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Navigating a heavy stock car around the twists and turns of a road course is a difficult process, unless you're A.J.  Allmendinger.

Then you make it look like a Sunday drive.

Allmendinger won the pole for Sunday's Cheez-It 355 at The Glen by laying down a lap of 68.993 seconds at 127.839 mph. The pole marks the second time Allmendinger will start from the lead in Sprint Cup competitionthis season; both on road courses.

Allmendinger, who won this race at Watkins Glen last season, downplays the importance of winning the pole at a road course race.

ìWe can lead to Turn 1 at least," Allmendinger said. "Iím just proud of all my guys; I was frustrated yesterday and I probably wasnít helping. I was overdriving trying to get more than what we there and I didnít do a good job yesterday. They saved me. They gave me a good race car. So, going into tomorrow, I feel happy with what weíve got. But, weíll see. Itís a tough race. This Kroger/Bushís Beans Chevy is going to be fast and hopefully weíll be reliving last year.î

Allmendinger understands the challenges road course races present.

ìEverybody is so close. Itís tough to pass. You start beating and banging on each other," Allmendinger explained. "Your fenders get torn up here and you canít have that. Itís very aerodynamic-dependent. Itís a good start. Strategy plays a lot in this race; fuel mileage and everything. I canít thank everybody at ECR enough for giving me the horsepower. 

"I donít know if Iíll sleep any better tonight, or not; but Iíll be ready for tomorrow.î

Martin Truex, Jr, who won a road course race at Sonoma back in 2013, laid down a lap of 69.139 seconds and 127.569 mph putting him beside Allmendinger on the front row of Sunday's race.

Tony Stewart's five wins at Watkins Glen are the most of any driver in Sunday's field of 43. Stewart's lap of 69.187 seconds and 127.481 mph gave him the third starting spot.

Stewart has not won a race in Sprint Cup competition since 2013.

Kevin Harvick, who won at Watkins Glen in 2006, will start in the fourth spot followed by Jeff Gordon in fifth place.

Kyle Larson will roll off the starting grid in sixth place with Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Austin Dillon rounding out the top ten.

T.J. Bell was the only driver who failed to qualify for Sunday's race.

Starting Line Up by Row
Watkins Glen International
30th Annual Cheez-It 355 at The Glen
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sat, August 08, 2015 @ 02:35 PM Eastern
Driver    Date    Time    Speed
Track Race Record:    Mark Martin     08/13/95    02:11:54    103.03
Pos    Car    Driver    Team    Time    Speed
Row 1:    1    47    AJ Allmendinger    Kroger/Bush's Beans Chevrolet    68.993    127.839
2    78    Martin Truex Jr.    Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet    69.139    127.569
Row 2:    3    14    Tony Stewart    Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet    69.187    127.481
4    4    Kevin Harvick    Budweiser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet    69.222    127.416
Row 3:    5    24    Jeff Gordon    Axalta Chevrolet    69.350    127.181
6    42    Kyle Larson    Target Chevrolet    69.477    126.948
Row 4:    7    88    Dale Earnhardt Jr.    Nationwide Chevrolet    69.497    126.912
8    18    Kyle Busch    M&M Crispy Toyota    69.521    126.868
Row 5:    9    48    Jimmie Johnson    Lowe's Chevrolet    69.543    126.828
10    3    Austin Dillon    DOW Chevrolet    69.565    126.788
Row 6:    11    2    Brad Keselowski    Miller Lite/Luke Bryan Ford    69.938    126.112
12    51    Justin Allgaier    Brandt Chevrolet    70.011    125.980
Row 7:    13    11    Denny Hamlin    FedEx Ground Toyota    69.544    126.826
14    41    Kurt Busch    Haas Automation Chevrolet    69.564    126.790
Row 8:    15    19    Carl Edwards    Stanley Toyota    69.626    126.677
16    22    Joey Logano    Shell Pennzoil Ford    69.663    126.610
Row 9:    17    1    Jamie McMurray    McDonald's Chevrolet    69.671    126.595
18    15    Clint Bowyer    Maxwell House Toyota    69.677    126.584
Row 10:    19    55    David Ragan    Aaron's Dream Machine Online Version     69.705    126.533
20    31    Ryan Newman    Caterpillar Chevrolet    69.730    126.488
Row 11:    21    43    Aric Almirola    Smithfield Ford    69.949    126.092
22    10    Danica Patrick    GoDaddy Chevrolet    69.962    126.068
Row 12:    23    5    Kasey Kahne    Time Warner Cable Chevrolet    69.978    126.040
24    9    Sam Hornish Jr.    Medallion Bank Ford    70.003    125.995
Row 13:    25    16    Greg Biffle    Cheez-It Ford    70.043    125.923
26    20    Matt Kenseth    Dollar General Toyota    70.061    125.890
Row 14:    27    83    Matt DiBenedetto #    Burger King/Cosmo Motors Toyota    70.084    125.849
28    27    Paul Menard    Libman/Menards Chevrolet    70.122    125.781
Row 15:    29    13    Casey Mears    GEICO Chevrolet    70.125    125.775
30    17    Ricky Stenhouse Jr.    Ford EcoBoost Ford    70.214    125.616
Row 16:    31    95    Michael McDowell    K-Love Radio Ford    70.238    125.573
32    34    Chris Buescher(i)    Bully Hill Vineyards Ford    70.306    125.452
Row 17:    33    35    Cole Whitt    Tweaker Energy Shots Ford    70.438    125.217
34    6    Trevor Bayne    AdvoCare Ford    70.705    124.744
Row 18:    35    33    Alex Kennedy #    Dream Factory Chevrolet    70.778    124.615
36    40    Landon Cassill(i)    Hillman Automotive & Tire Chevrolet    71.090    124.068
Row 19:    37    38    David Gilliland    Love's Travel Stops Ford    Owner Points
38    32    Boris Said(i)    Genesee Brewing Company Chevrolet    Owner Points
Row 20:    39    7    Alex Bowman    TBR Chevrolet    Owner Points
40    46    Michael Annett    Switch Hitch Chevrolet    Owner Points
Row 21:    41    26    Jeb Burton #    Maxim Toyota    Owner Points
42    23    JJ Yeley(i)    Dr Pepper Toyota    Owner Points
Row 22:    43    98    Timmy Hill(i)    Premium Motorsports Chevrolet    Owner Points
Did Not Qualify:    # 62 TJ Bell(i). 
Manufacturer    Starting Lineup    DNQs    Manufacturer    Starting Lineup    DNQs
Chevrolet    23    1    Toyota    9    0
Ford    11    0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series