It seemed just about everybody was conceding the pole for the Auto Club 500 to Jimmie Johnson.

Brian Vickers apparently didn't get the word.

Vickers, 25, of Red Bull Racing, won the sixth pole of his career yesterday, touring the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway oval at 183.429 mph. That relegated three-time reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Johnson to the outside of the front row for the 500-mile race tomorrow in Fontana, Calif. Johnson had a lap at 183.164 mph.

The time difference was 0.059 seconds.

"The only thing I can think is Vickers and I went to In-N-Out Burger last night and I had a double and he had a single," Johnson said, joking. "I guess that extra patty killed me."

Whatever the reason he was able to beat Johnson, the pole was big for Vickers, especially in the wake of the Daytona 500 controversy that was sparked when Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Vickers collided, setting off a 10-car crash.

Jamie McMurray was third at 182.653, followed by Kurt Busch at 182.556, Greg Biffle at 182.302, Jeff Gordon at 182.209, David Reutimann at 182.089 and A.J. Allmendinger, the fastest of the drivers who had to qualifying on speed, at 182.048.

IndyCar star Danica Patrick says she has not been contacted by anyone from the new American-based Formula One team and has no plans to leave the IndyCar Series. Ken Anderson, one of the principals in the team that will be formally announced next week in Charlotte, N.C., has said Patrick is a candidate to fill one of the team's seats.

Honda has warned that disbanding its Formula One team remains a possibility as negotiations continue with potential buyers. The Japanese manufacturer announced its withdrawal from F1 in December amid the global economic slowdown and has since fielded interest from potential buyers of the team based in Brackley, England, without any firm announcements.