Defending champ Kahne grabs pole

With two wheels off the ground and maybe even a third at one point, Kasey Kahne guided his No. 9 Ford to the pole position Friday for the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

It was Kahne's second pole position at Infineon Raceway in three years, and he won the race last year after starting fifth.

He posted a lap of 76.300 seconds (93.893 mph), edging Jimmie Johnson and third-place finisher Kurt Busch. Johnson, the four-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, also will start in the front row Sunday in pursuit of his first road-course win.

The pole position at Infineon is not much of a ticket to ride. In the last five Cup races there, pole sitters have finished higher than 16th just once. Three of them finished 33rd or lower, including Kahne, who was 33rd in 2008.

Kahne said the pole isn't merely a ceremonial honor, but a confidence booster on a course where it's awfully tough to pass. Running at or near the front is especially important in the restarts that are apt to occur in the final 20 laps, he said. In last year's race, he staved off Tony Stewart in a series of double-file restarts near the end.

Kahne attributed his recent success at Infineon to his increased experience and improved equipment. "The speed of the cars the last couple of years has been better than anything I've had in the past," he said.

Johnson has qualified second at Infineon twice before, not that it helped him much. He limped home 36th in 2005 and 15th in 2008.

Points-leader Kevin Harvick qualified fourth, Jeff Gordon fifth and red-hot Denny Hamlin - who has won five of the last 10 races - 12th. Road-course specialist Boris Said was 17th, but another "ringer," Brian Simo, failed to qualify, as did Brandon Ash and Michael Waltrip.

David Ragan spun out in the S's (turns 8 and 8A) and crashed into a tire barrier, but qualified on owner points.

Busch takes it easy: Kyle Busch isn't pulling double duty this weekend between Sonoma and today's Nationwide Series race in Elkhart Lake, Wis., as he has in the past. He's fourth in that series but withdrew a couple of weeks ago as Brad Keselowski took a commanding lead.

Carl Edwards and Paul Menard joined Keselowski in the rigorous hop from Sonoma to Wisconsin on Friday night, then back to Sonoma in time for Sunday's noon race.

Briefly: Rick Hendrick, the most successful team owner in NASCAR history at Infineon, was inducted into the raceway's Wall of Fame. Hendrick drivers have posted five Sprint Cup wins, all by Gordon, and nine pole positions. ... Hendrick denied an SI.com report that Kahne will drive next year for Phoenix Racing, which relies on Hendrick for equipment. Kahne, now with Petty Motorsports, has signed with Hendrick to replace Mark Martin in 2012.