SONOMA — Middle-aged women were screaming like teenagers Friday at Infineon Raceway.

Kasey Kahne, one of NASCAR’s better-looking young stars, was the third driver out during qualifying for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.

He set the tone for the rest of the afternoon by winning his second pole of the season.

Kahne beat out Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears with a 77.740-second lap at 92.153 miles per hour for the preliminary pole. The top spot was solidified two hours later.

“We just had a good car. We stayed on the course and tried to make a conservative lap and charge everything I could,” Kahne said. “The whole lap was consistent and it paid off. To get the pole is always, I think, very difficult, especially at a track like this. Today we had a great Budweiser Dodge. Winning a pole at Infineon is tougher then it sounds.”

Kahne’s best finish at Infineon Raceway’s 10-turn, 1.99-mile road course is 23rd, but he’s on a tear right now.

Ever since Kahne won the All-Star race in May, he’s been red hot. He’s won two out of the last four races and came in second behind Junior last week at Michigan.

“Winning that All-Star race ... once we did that, we felt as a team we could do it again. That gave us the boost we needed to realize we weren’t that far off.”

Kahne’s pole was his 16th in 160 races but his first on a road course.

He credited part-time Cup driver and road course ringer Boris Said for helping him out in a recent test.

Said qualified 14th and earned his lone pole at the track in 2003.

“I made one lap better than Boris today; that guy will make 109 better than me on Sunday,” Kahne said. “He taught me a lot about how to go faster. It’s difficult to use some of the things he’s told me, instantly. You can learn a lot from a guy like that, that’s for sure. You can’t flip and drive like him the next day. It’s definitely nice for Boris Said to help you improve at a road course.”

Said added, “I feel pretty proud of Kasey Kahne. I taught him for the last couple of years, and now he kicks the teacher’s (rear), so that’s pretty cool.”

Jimmie Johnson was the second-fastest while Kurt Busch was third. Bobby Labonte and Vallejo native Jeff Gordon rounded out the Top 5.

Making his first Cup qualifying attempt was Marcos Ambrose, who qualified seventh after being the fastest in the day’s earlier practice session.

“I think he did a great job today,” Johnson said. “He put in some great laps.”

Johnson added that he’s not really familiar with Ambrose’s driving since they’ve never been side by side. He also said Ambrose’ success in Nationwide may not necessarily translate into a Cup race because of the difference in the cars. He said he’s not ruling out a win for Ambrose, but said it “would be difficult for him.”

Ambrose added, “I’m just pumped. It’s just an awesome opportunity. I feel like today is one of those days where you know in your life that you’ve done something special. It’s just an awesome, awesome day for us.

“The pressure was just intense. First Cup race. Even going fast in practice, I mean, it added more, because you expect to get in there. I feel like I’ve just survived a marathon of stress and anxiety. I’m just going to enjoy it from here on in for the rest of the weekend.”

Elliott Sadler, Ambrose, Robby Gordon, Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle rounded out the Top 10.

Sunday’s race starts at 2 p.m.

For ticket information, call (800) 870-RACE.