Closing in on his third consecutive title, Jimmie Johnson refused to slow down on Friday.
Johnson qualified on the pole for Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
The two-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion raced around the one-mile tri-oval in his Chevrolet in 26.72 seconds at an average speed of 134.725 miles per hour to collect his sixth pole of the season.
“That’s really the bottom line is we need to be 162 up leaving here, then all I have to do is go down there and start,” Johnson said. “Am I planning on that being the case? No. Carl’s car has been so strong. My goal is to outrun him. I don’t want this margin to shrink anymore.”
Edwards, who had the fastest car in Friday’s final practice session, qualified 15th because he said the engine in his Ford bogged down on the backstretch during his lap. Winner of the last two races, Edwards has chopped away at Johnson’s lead and now trails him by just 106 points with two events to go.
“I really like this track,” said Edwards, who has five top 10 finishes at Phoenix in eight career starts. “We’ve been very fast here in the past. It’s a really fun race and I feel good about it.”
Kurt Busch (134.529 mph) will start third, followed by David Reutimann (134.514 mph) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (134.108 mph). Greg Biffle, the only driver other than Edwards with any real hope of overtaking Johnson, starts 31st.
“The first lap, I was shocked, because I had one level of light I was dealing with on the straightaway, and then as you turned into the corner, you went into a shadow, and then there’s a gap between the top of the grandstands and the [luxury] boxes up there, and another ray of light was shooting through there.
“The second lap I had a talk with myself down the front stretch. I just kind of went off my memory of what I’d been doing in practice. Once my eyes adjusted, I knew I hit it right.”
Jamie McMurray (134.625 mph) finished an eyelash behind Johnson, his first front-row starting position of the season and his second top-four spot in the past two races.
McMurray (18th in the driver standings) isn’t one of the 12 drivers in the Chase, but that hardly muzzled his enthusiasm.
“It’s a nice way to be ending the season,” said McMurray, who at one point early in the season had fallen out of the top 35, which ensures a starting position.
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