Chase hopefuls scattered throughout Fontana field (cont'd)

Ryan Newman, still hanging on in 15th place with 181 points to make up on 12th-place Clint Bowyer, came 17th at 40.566 seconds, 177.489 mph in his Dodge. Despite his prowess at big speedways like ACS, Newman has never won there; his best finish a third-place effort back in 2004. His average finish is a modest 18.6. He'll need significantly more than that to stay inside the cutoff.

Brian Vickers, just two points behind Newman in 16th, put his Toyota in 19th with a lap at 40.588 seconds, 177.392 mph. Like Newman, he'll need to better his average finish of 17.1 by a bunch to make it to Richmond with a chance. He has a pole and a third-place finish in nine starts at ACS.

Johnson on pole

Jimmie Johnson won his fourth pole of the season as he was the only driver to turn a sub-40 lap Friday in Fontana.

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Denny Hamlin, who rallied to finish third last week at Bristol, has 56 points in hand over 13th place heading into Sunday's race, and he put his Toyota in 21st with a lap at 40.636 seconds, 177.183 mph.

Hamlin has a sixth-place run in this race two years ago as his best finish, and he averages 17.8 in five starts.

David Ragan, hanging 12 points out of the Chase in 13th-place, will roll off 22nd Sunday after his lap at 40.648 seconds, 177.130 mph in his Ford. That's a lot better than his average start of 32.0 in three starts, and he finishes at a 14.0 clip. He'll need every bit of that as well as some trouble from the top 12 to get in heading to Richmond.

Clint Bowyer, who somehow managed to finish in the top 10 at Bristol despite tripping over nearly every accident, will start 31st in his Chevrolet. Bowyer finished third here two years ago, and he might need that again this week to clear some space over Ragan. In his five starts at ACS, Bowyer averages 12.4 per finish.

Harvick, 41 points out of sixth place, is Tail End Charlie of the bubble brigade. He put his Chevrolet in 33rd with a lap at 40.937 seconds, 175.880 mph. Harvick, despite his speed on big tracks, has not finished well at ACS. His average finish of 19.1 is better than Biffle's (19.6), but next to last among those on the bubble.

As is usually the case, most of the bubble boys were faster in qualifying than in practice, with the exception of Vickers and Harvick.

Truex will likely exit bubble status after Sunday, which leaves only Vickers, Newman, Kahne and Ragan on the outside of the Chase with a chance of getting in. Point leader Kyle Busch and second-place Carl Edwards have already clinched their berths.