Jimmie Johnson kept his promise—to try to qualify up front—and at the same time took another giant step toward his record fourth consecutive Cup Series championship.
Turning a lap in 31.049 seconds (173.919 mph), Johnson won the pole for Sunday’s Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Rookie Scott Speed, the last driver to attempt a qualifying lap, took advantage of the late draw and claimed the second starting position for the Cup finale at 172.695 mph. NASCAR
The math for Johnson is simple. If he finishes 25th or better, he will take home a record fourth consecutive title.
Mark Martin, who is second in the Chase and trails Johnson by 108 points, will start in the fourth position. He needs a win Sunday to have any shot at his first career title.
Martin held the pole position for the early stages of Friday’s qualifying until Johnson ran a lap in a blistering 31.049 seconds, the equivalent of 173.919 mph. MiamiHerald.com
POS CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 2 82 Scott Speed* Toyota 3 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 4 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 5 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 6 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 7 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 8 16 Greg Biffle Ford 9 21 Bill Elliott Ford 10 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 11 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 12 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 13 44 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 14 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 15 7 Casey Mears Chevrolet 16 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 17 202 David Gilliland Toyota 18 36 Michael McDowell Toyota 19 171 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 20 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 21 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 22 0 David Reutimann Toyota 23 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 24 99 Carl Edwards Ford 25 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 26 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 27 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge 28 37 Travis Kvapil Chevrolet 29 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 30 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 31 96 Erik Darnell Ford 32 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 33 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 34 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 35 20 Joey Logano* Toyota 36 98 Paul Menard Ford 37 7 Matt Crafton Toyota 38 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 39 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 40 34 John Andretti Chevrolet 41 6 David Ragan Ford 42 43 Reed Sorenson+ Dodge 43 8 Terry Labonte Toyota
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