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Pocono NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson takes another pole

Jimmie Johnson claimed a second Pocono pole of the season in qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup's return to the 'Tricky Triangle'

Whereas last time a rain-out sealed Johnson's top spot on the grid, this time it was a new record lap of 49.819 seconds and 180.654mph that put the Hendrick Chevrolet a scant 0.004s ahead of Kyle Busch's Joe Gibbs Toyota.

The result was a shock to Johnson, who had been over a second slower in practice and also needed two attempts to get through technical inspection due to the toe issue on the left rear.

The championship leader dominated the Cup series' last visit to Pocono in June. Johnson has already won four times this season and leads the standings by a huge 75 points approaching the Chase cut-off.

Carl Edwards jumped to third late in the qualifying order, demoting Indianapolis winner Ryan Newman to the outside row two spot.

Kurt Busch again impressed with his qualifying pace as he put Furniture Row's Chevrolet fifth.

Joey Logano, Greg Biffle, Marcos Ambrose, Denny Hamlin and Aric Almirola completed the top 10, followed by champion Brad Keselowski.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time     Gap
 1.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           49.819s
 2.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota             49.823s  +0.004s
 3.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            49.950s  +0.131s
 4.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       49.999s  +0.180s
 5.  Kurt Busch          Furniture Row Chevrolet      50.085s  +0.266s
 6.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                  50.111s  +0.292s
 7.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            50.130s  +0.311s
 8.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   50.187s  +0.368s
 9.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota             50.239s  +0.420s
10.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   50.253s  +0.434s
11.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                  50.297s  +0.478s
12.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  50.322s  +0.503s
13.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          50.373s  +0.554s
14.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          50.418s  +0.599s
15.  AJ Allmendinger     Phoenix Chevrolet            50.420s  +0.601s
16.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota               50.446s  +0.627s
17.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford            50.487s  +0.668s
18.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           50.488s  +0.669s
19.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  50.546s  +0.727s
20.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       50.553s  +0.734s
21.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          50.567s  +0.748s
22.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           50.659s  +0.840s
23.  Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                    50.678s  +0.859s
24.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota             50.702s  +0.883s
25.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           50.721s  +0.902s
26.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               50.779s  +0.960s
27.  Michael McDowell    Parsons Ford                 50.784s  +0.965s
28.  Mark Martin         Waltrip Toyota               50.850s  +1.031s
29.  Casey Mears         Germain Ford                 50.864s  +1.045s
30.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford               50.894s  +1.075s
31.  David Stremme       Swan Toyota                  50.899s  +1.080s
32.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            51.059s  +1.240s
33.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota         51.108s  +1.289s
34.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       51.177s  +1.358s
35.  David Reutimann     BK Toyota                    51.211s  +1.392s
36.  JJ Yeley            Baldwin Chevrolet            51.376s  +1.557s
37.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               51.415s  +1.596s
38.  Landon Cassill      Circle Sport Chevrolet       51.462s  +1.643s
39.  Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                 51.696s  +1.877s
40.  Josh Wise           Front Row Ford               51.815s  +1.996s
41.  Timmy Hill          FAS Lane Ford                52.305s  +2.486s
42.  Alex Kennedy        Humphrey Smith Toyota        53.286s  +3.467s
43.  Tony Raines         Circle Sport Chevrolet       53.960s  +4.141s

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