Current points leader Jimmie Johnson turned a
wicked fast lap during Thursday's qualifying at Lowe's Motor Speedway to claim
the pole for the NASCAR Banking 500 -- the fifth race in the "Chase for the
Sprint Cup" championship.
Johnson, the three-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion and last Sunday's
race winner at California, lapped the 1.5-mile oval with a blistering speed of
192.376 m.p.h. to set the fastest qualifying lap in the three-year history of
the new NASCAR Cup Series car -- formerly referred to as the "Car of
Tomorrow."
He claimed his third pole of the season, his third at Charlotte and the 22nd
of his Cup career.
"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."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. held the previous record for fastest qualifying lap
(190.907 m.p.h.) in the COT when he took the pole for the spring 2008 race at
Texas.
Johnson enters the 500-mile race with a 12-point advantage over Hendrick
Motorsports teammate and closest competitor Mark Martin, who will start
alongside Johnson on the front row.
"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.
The remaining Chase drivers and their starting positions include: Kurt Busch
(15th), Denny Hamlin (17th), Juan Pablo Montoya (18th), Greg Biffle (23rd),
Carl Edwards (28th) and Brian Vickers (30th).
Michael McDowell, Sterling Marlin, Dave Blaney and Travis Kvapil failed to
qualify.
Saturday's race is scheduled to start just after 7:25 p.m. (et).
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