Gordon is still fast at Fontana

To say Jeff Gordon likes the California Speedway is an understatement, given that he’s the only three-time Nextel Cup series winner at the Fontana track and holds the series record for most laps led there, 457.

Gordon’s prowess was evident again Friday, when he turned a lap at 185.735 mph in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to win the pole position for Sunday’s Auto Club 500.

“We just put a great race car out there,” Gordon said. “I do love coming back out here. But does it guarantee you anything [Sunday]? No.”

Kasey Kahne, who won the Labor Day race at the California Speedway last year, qualified second and will start next to Gordon on the front row.

Kahne ran a lap at 185.519 over the two-mile D-shaped track in his Evernham Motorsports Dodge on a breezy, picture-postcard day with the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains in the background.

Mark Martin, the 48-year-old veteran who finished a close second to Kevin Harvick last Sunday in the season-opening Daytona 500, qualified third in the 43-car field. Martin -- running a limited schedule in a Ginn Racing Chevy this year, his 25th in the Cup series -- ran 185.500 mph. Harvick qualified his Chevrolet fourth for Richard Childress Racing.

Four of the seven Toyotas that tried to qualify made the field. They were led by Dave Blaney of Bill Davis Racing in 14th and Brian Vickers of Red Bull Racing in 15th.

But Californian A.J. Allmendinger, who left the Champ Car open-wheel racing series last year to join NASCAR, failed to qualify his Red Bull Toyota, just as he had last week at the Daytona 500.

And Michael Waltrip, Toyota’s main hope for the season, also failed to make the field, bumped out by rookie teammate David Reutimann.

The Toyota driven by Waltrip’s other teammate, Dale Jarrett, had a transmission problem and he failed to post a qualifying speed but got the 43rd starting spot as a former Cup champion.

Juan Pablo Montoya, the former Formula One driver who also migrated to stock car racing, qualified ninth in his Dodge owned by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

“I’ve raced here before in open wheel, but it’s very different in these cars,” Montoya said. “The guys that have raced here before [in the Cup series] have a big advantage over me. It’ll be a tough race Sunday.”

David Gilliland, the Riverside driver with Robert Yates Racing who won the pole at the Daytona 500, qualified a poor 40th in a Ford Fusion.

Martin remained a focus of attention in the wake of the controversial end to the Daytona 500.

He lost by less than a car length to Harvick at the finish line as a multicar wreck developed behind them. When a crash unfolds, NASCAR normally throws a yellow flag and freezes the field.

Many fans and observers argued that, had NASCAR done so last week, Martin would have won because he was slightly ahead of Harvick as the accident started. But the caution didn’t appear until they reached the finish line, by which time Harvick had edged ahead.

Martin refused to challenge NASCAR’s decision, but said Friday he was overwhelmed by the reaction.

“It really warms my heart that we have so much respect and that so many people support or respect me and pull for me,” Martin said. “I feel really lucky and I feel really blessed.”

Harvick, meanwhile, said, “Anyone who has any sense can go back and watch the video and see when the first cars started crashing we were ahead, and when we cross the start-finish line, we were still ahead.”

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james.peltz@latimes.com