FONTANA, Calif. — Jamie McMurray has just missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship several times, including an oh-so-close 14th-place finish this season.

On a fast-but-slick track in California, the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 champion was able to find more speed than any of the Chase drivers.

McMurray earned his fourth pole of the season Friday, posting a fast lap of 185.285 mph around Auto Club Speedway's two-mile oval while many of the Chase drivers struggled.

Elliott Sadler, another nonqualifier for the Chase, was just behind McMurray and will start on the front row Sunday in the 400-mile race.

Matt Kenseth, 11th in the Chase standings, qualified third, and Greg Biffle was seventh after entering eighth in the Chase. Points leader Jimmie Johnson was in solid position, too, qualifying eighth.

Nine drivers enter the weekend within 101 points of the Chase lead, but that could change quickly if a few don't do a whole lot of passing in the wide lanes at Auto Club Speedway.

Five of the top six spots for Sunday's race will be non-Chase drivers and five drivers who made it into for the final 10-race run toward the championship qualified 20th or worse, including two who'll be near the back of the pack.

Carl Edwards, fourth in the Chase standings, qualified 20th. Kevin Harvick, who's just ahead of Edwards in the title race, was 21st. Tony Stewart, 10th in the Chase, was 22nd.

They're still well ahead of Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch.

Busch, 70 points behind Johnson in sixth, labored through qualifying and will start back near the owner's points qualifiers in 38th.