Jimmie Johnson’s push for his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup title got another boost by clocking the fastest time in qualifying for the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Holding a two-point advantage over Brad Keselowski in the championship, Johnson set the benchmark speed of 191.076 mph (307.508 km/h). It’s his second week in a row as the pole sitter, and he last week at Martinsville he turned that into victory with three races left (Texas, Phoenix & Miami).
Keselowski qualified eighth at a track where he has never had a top-10 finish.
Johnson finished second at Texas in April, a race won by Greg Biffle. Biffle will start on the front row with Johnson.
Australia’s has his third crew chief in his corner this weekend with Drew Blickensderfer replacing Mike Ford during the week; the Aussie will start 15th.
“It’s been a brand new day here with a new crew chief and I think it’s been a really successful day so far,” said Ambrose.
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“I missed it there in qualifying a little bit, just didn’t get to the bottom. But we’ll take this as a really good positive step for our team and look forward to the race.”
RACE LINEUP: AAA Texas 500 – Texas Motor Speedway
Race 34 of 36
|
POS |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
MPH |
TIME |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s | 191.076 | 28.261 |
| 2 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M | 190.382 | -0.103 |
| 3 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Snickers | 190.128 | -0.141 |
| 4 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-hour Energy | 190.067 | -0.150 |
| 5 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | Carlyle Tools by NAPA | 189.994 | -0.161 |
| 6 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot / redbeacon.com | 189.760 | -0.196 |
| 7 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 189.607 | -0.219 |
| 8 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 189.533 | -0.230 |
| 9 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 189.474 | -0.239 |
| 10 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Ford EcoBoost | 189.460 | -0.241 |
| 11 | Mark Martin | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 189.294 | -0.266 |
| 12 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Office | 189.274 | -0.269 |
| 13 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com / Great Clips | 188.990 | -0.312 |
| 14 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Farmland | 188.976 | -0.314 |
| 15 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Mac Tools | 188.923 | -0.322 |
| 16 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 188.798 | -0.341 |
| 17 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 188.626 | -0.367 |
| 18 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | Furniture Row | 188.396 | -0.402 |
| 19 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | National Guard / Diet Mountain Dew | 188.357 | -0.408 |
| 20 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 188.337 | -0.411 |
| 21 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Mobil 1 | 188.042 | -0.456 |
| 22 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 187.996 | -0.463 |
| 23 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Rheem / Budweiser | 187.780 | -0.496 |
| 24 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | McDonald’s | 187.565 | -0.529 |
| 25 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Huggies | 187.435 | -0.549 |
| 26 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction | 187.389 | -0.556 |
| 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Quaker State / Menards | 187.350 | -0.562 |
| 28 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | MaxQworkforce.com | 187.266 | -0.575 |
| 29 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Wounded Warrior Project | 187.227 | -0.581 |
| 30 | David Gilliland | Ford | Long John Silver’s | 186.858 | -0.638 |
| 31 | Scott Speed | Ford | B&D Electrical / TWD | 186.858 | -0.638 |
| 32 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 186.541 | -0.687 |
| 33 | David Ragan | Ford | CertainTeed / 31-W Insulation | 186.477 | -0.697 |
| 34 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | Plinker Tactical / MCM Elegante | 186.471 | -0.698 |
| 35 | Josh Wise* | Ford | MDS Transport | 186.413 | -0.707 |
| 36 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Quicken Loans | 186.368 | -0.714 |
| 37 | Michael McDowell | Ford | Phil Parsons Racing | 186.066 | -0.761 |
| 38 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | Dr Pepper | 185.867 | -0.792 |
| 39 | Reed Sorenson | Toyota | Plinker Tactical / MCM Elegante | 185.714 | -0.816 |
| 40 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 184.906 | -0.943 |
| 41 | Landon Cassill+ | Toyota | Burger King | 184.382 | -1.026 |
| 42 | Ken Schrader+ | Ford | Federated Auto Parts | 181.843 | -1.435 |
| 43 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves | 185.586 | -0.836 |
| DNQ | Stephen Leicht* | Chevrolet | Little Joes Autos.com | 185.103 | -0.912 |
| DNQ | Kelly Bires | Ford | United Supermarkets / Randy Hill Racing.com | 183.088 | -1.233 |
| DNQ | David Stremme | Toyota | Inception Motorsports | 176.655 | -2.307 |
+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie
