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Rain or no rain—to Jimmie Johnson, it didn’t matter—at least in terms of his starting position.
After a persistent drizzle subsided Thursday afternoon, Johnson, the leader in the Chase, put his No. 48 Chevrolet on the pole for Saturday night’s NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and he did so in record fashion.
Flying around 1.5-mile Lowe’s Motor Speedway in 28.070 seconds (192.376 mph), Johnson posted the fastest qualifying lap ever run in NASCAR’s new race car, which was introduced to Cup competition in 2007.
He broke the mark of 190.907 mph set by Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Texas in April 2008, and in doing so, edged Hendrick Motorsports teammate and second-place Chase driver Mark Martin (191.816 mph) for the top spot.
The pole was Johnson’s third of the season and the 22nd of his career. His has five victories at Lowe’s, including four consecutive in 2004-2005, but hasn’t won at the track since it was repaved before the 2006 Coca-Cola 600. NASCAR
Johnson, going out 11th of 47 cars, quickly showed he was the class of the field, coming close to the track record of 193.216 set by Elliott Sadler in 2005.
“Man, it’s fast,” Johnson said. “Whatever is going on with the tire combination right now and the track, there is a ton of grip.”
Martin, going out 25th, came the closest to his teammate. He’ll be on the front row Saturday sitting 12 points behind Johnson in the fifth of the 10 season-ending Chase races.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Banking 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway- Race Line-Up
“An enormous amount of that speed was the track conditions,” Martin said. “Surprisingly, it was really fast, grippy, for no rubber. Sometimes this place needs rubber to get better. I think it’s going to be great.”
Juan Pablo Montoya, sitting third in points, 58 behind Johnson, qualified 18th. Stewart, moving up the standings in the past couple weeks, is 84 points behind and has a good starting position.
“We’re really happy with that,” Stewart said.
Jeff Gordon qualified ninth and Kurt Busch 15th. The worst starting spot for a Chase driver is 30th for Brian Vickers. The Associated Press
“It’s obviously a great night to get the pole here; it’s special for us,” Johnson said. “[Friday] is a whole different day with different things we got to worry about making the car go over the long haul. I feel good about things. We had a great day today, and I will sleep well tonight.”
“Believe it or not, the speed isn’t what scares you; it’s driving over your head, and that car was so good,” Martin said.
Kasey Kahne, a Chase driver, qualified third, followed by Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart, another title contender.
“We were a little bit off from practice,” Kahne said. “We probably had a pretty perfect lap. That was a fast lap.”
Ryan Newman, Mike Bliss, who was the fastest among those drivers required to qualify on time, Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch completed the top-10. Newman and Gordon are Chase competitors. Miami Herald
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Banking 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway- Race Line-Up
