page_title: 2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350
section_title: Practice and qualifying
hierarchical_section_title: 2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350 / Report / Practice and qualifying
caption_attribution_description: 2012 Kobalt Tools 400 in Las Vegas
context_page_description: The 2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on June 24, 2012, at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. Contested over 110 laps, it was the sixteenth race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and the first of two road course competitions on the schedule. Clint Bowyer of Michael Waltrip Racing took his first win of the season, while Tony Stewart finished second and Kurt Busch finished third.
context_section_description: Three practice sessions were scheduled to be held before the Sunday race—one on June 22, 2012, and two on June 23, 2012. The first session lasted 90 minutes. The second session was 45 minutes, while the final session finished after 75 minutes.  Jeff Gordon was quickest with a time of 75.653 seconds in the first session, less than two-tenths of a second faster than Truex, Jr. Bowyer was just off Truex, Jr.'s pace, followed by Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, and Ryan Newman. Marcos Ambrose was seventh, still within a second of Gordon's time.
  Forty-four cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Ambrose clinched the second pole position of his career, with a record setting time of 75.203 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Gordon. Johnson qualified third, Biffle took fourth, and Truex, Jr. started fifth. Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Kenseth and Newman rounded out the top ten. The driver that failed to qualify for the race was Brian Simo. Following the qualifying session, Ambrose stated, "I beat myself up here in 2010.It was nothing to do with the car or the track. It was me. I know what not to do on the last restart." Afterward, third-placed Johnson commented, "It was on edge the whole lap. I don't want to drive 110 laps the way it drove today."
  In the second practice session, Gordon remained quickest with a time of 75.961 seconds. Ambrose, with a time of 76.718, was second quickest, ahead of Allmendinger, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Keselowski. Kyle Busch, Johnson, Truex, Jr., Bowyer, and McMurray completed the first ten positions. Gordon continued to be quickest through the third practice session with a time of 76.846, 0.885 slower than his fastest lap during the second session. Biffle was second quickest in the session, while Montoya was scored third. Johnson followed in the fourth position ahead of Allmendinger, Hamlin and Edwards. Truex, Jr., Kahne and Kyle Busch rounded out the first ten positions in eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively.
caption: Marcos Ambrose, from Richard Petty Motorsports, won the pole position
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