Jimmie Johnson’s chase for his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup has been given another boost with pole position for the Advocare 500 at Phoenix.
It is Johnson’s third pole of the season and his speed of 224.056 km/h (139.222 mph) set a new track record; the 19th time this season that the Generation-6 car has set a new standard.
This is also Johnson’s second career pole at Phoenix, a track where he has won four times, with three of those wins coming in Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup races.
After winning last weekend in Texas to stretch his points lead to seven, Johnson starts this weekend’s penultimate race 13 places in front of title combatant Matt Kenseth.
NASCAR pays a bonus point for leading a lap, plus another point for leading the most laps in a race. NASCAR awards 43 points for first place in the races, then only drops by a single marker for each place thereafter.
This means Kenseth will need to finish at least finish eight places in front of Johnson to regain the lead in the title chase.
Denny Hamlin will share the front row alongside Johnson, with Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon completing the top five.
Australia’s Marcos Ambrose will start from 20th for the 500km race on Monday morning Australian time.
“We went out second and that didn’t help us out,” said Ambrose.
“The track was slick and it’s a tough track when we don’t have any grip. It held up a little better than I thought, which is a testament to the guys on our Dewalt Ford.
“The car unloaded fast and we feel good about it. I just wish we qualified later in the day.”
QUALIFYING: Advocare 500 – Phoenix
|
POS |
Driver |
Car # |
Make |
Sponsor |
MPH |
Time |
|
1 |
Jimmie Johnson | 48 | Chevrolet | Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools | 139.222 | 25.858 |
|
2 |
Denny Hamlin | 11 | Toyota | FedEx Ground | 139.023 | 0.037 |
|
3 |
Joey Logano | 22 | Ford | Shell Pennzoil | 138.942 | 0.052 |
|
4 |
Kyle Busch | 18 | Toyota | M&M’s | 138.851 | 0.069 |
|
5 |
Jeff Gordon | 24 | Chevrolet | Axalta | 138.627 | 0.111 |
|
6 |
Clint Bowyer | 15 | Toyota | 5-Hour Energy | 138.595 | 0.117 |
|
7 |
Kasey Kahne | 5 | Chevrolet | Farmers Insurance | 138.520 | 0.131 |
|
8 |
Kurt Busch | 78 | Chevrolet | Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet | 138.446 | 0.145 |
|
9 |
Kevin Harvick | 29 | Chevrolet | Budweiser | 138.297 | 0.173 |
|
10 |
Martin Truex Jr | 56 | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 138.069 | 0.216 |
|
11 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr | 88 | Chevrolet | National Guard | 138.053 | 0.219 |
|
12 |
Brad Keselowski | 2 | Ford | Miller Lite | 137.968 | 0.235 |
|
13 |
Paul Menard | 27 | Chevrolet | Rheem / Menards | 137.736 | 0.279 |
|
14 |
Matt Kenseth | 20 | Toyota | Dollar General | 137.704 | 0.285 |
|
15 |
Jeff Burton | 31 | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 137.652 | 0.295 |
|
16 |
Mark Martin | 14 | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Bass Pro Shops | 137.410 | 0.341 |
|
17 |
Ryan Newman | 39 | Chevrolet | Quicken Loans- Salute to Veterans Day | 137.237 | 0.374 |
|
18 |
Greg Biffle | 16 | Ford | Scotch | 137.195 | 0.382 |
|
19 |
Juan Pablo Montoya | 42 | Chevrolet | Target | 137.153 | 0.390 |
|
20 |
Marcos Ambrose | 9 | Ford | DeWalt | 136.971 | 0.425 |
|
21 |
Aric Almirola | 43 | Ford | Smithfield | 136.945 | 0.430 |
|
22 |
Elliott Sadler | 55 | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 136.690 | 0.479 |
|
23 |
Carl Edwards | 99 | Ford | Fastenal | 136.679 | 0.481 |
|
24 |
Reed Sorenson | 95 | Ford | Jetset Getset | 136.096 | 0.594 |
|
25 |
Justin Allgaier | 51 | Chevrolet | Brandt | 136.008 | 0.611 |
|
26 |
Bobby Labonte | 47 | Toyota | Wounded Warrior Project-Clorox | 135.962 | 0.620 |
|
27 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 17 | Ford | RFR Driven | 135.947 | 0.623 |
|
28 |
Josh Wise | 35 | Ford | MDS Transport | 135.793 | 0.653 |
|
29 |
Cole Whitt | 30 | Toyota | Lean 1 | 135.716 | 0.668 |
|
30 |
Casey Mears | 13 | Ford | No. 13 GEICO Ford Fusion | 135.578 | 0.695 |
|
31 |
Travis Kvapil | 93 | Toyota | Dr. Pepper | 135.399 | 0.730 |
|
32 |
Danica Patrick | 10 | Chevrolet | GoDaddy- It’s Go Time | 135.379 | 0.734 |
|
33 |
David Gilliland | 38 | Ford | Long John Silver’s | 135.323 | 0.745 |
|
34 |
David Ragan | 34 | Ford | Taco Bell | 135.277 | 0.754 |
|
35 |
J.J. Yeley | 36 | Chevrolet | Accell Construction | 135.110 | 0.787 |
|
36 |
Jamie McMurray | 1 | Chevrolet | Lexar | 134.862 | 0.836 |
|
37 |
David Reutimann | 83 | Toyota | Horizon | 134.645 | 0.879 |
|
38 |
Timmy Hill | 32 | Ford | U.S. Chrome | 134.529 | 0.902 |
|
39 |
Michael McDowell | 98 | Ford | Gunbroker.com | 134.368 | 0.934 |
|
40 |
Landon Cassill | 40 | Chevrolet | Hillman Racing | 133.919 | 1.024 |
|
41 |
Tony Raines | 33 | Chevrolet | Little Joe’s Autos | 132.057 | 1.403 |
|
42 |
Dave Blaney | 7 | Chevrolet | Ultra Wheel | 131.579 | 1.502 |
|
43 |
Joe Nemechek | 87 | Toyota | NEMCO-JRR, LLC | 130.676 | 1.691 |
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