Phoenix NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson claims pole for Hendrick
Jimmie Johnson claimed pole position in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway
The six-time Cup champion carried the momentum of his Texas Motor Speedway win last time out to claim the quickest time of the day, 0.049 seconds ahead of Kurt Busch - the best-placed title hopeful.
Dale Earnhardt Jr put in a strong lap in another Hendrick Chevy to finish the session third, 0.053s behind the pole time.
Championship contenders Carl Edwards and Martin Truex Jr claimed fourth and fifth, ahead of Kyle Larson and Matt Kenseth's stand-in Erik Jones.
Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Jamie McMurray completed the top 12.
The two championship challengers who couldn't make it to the final qualifying shootout were Penske duo Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski in 14th and 18th respectively. Logano needs a victory to keep his title hopes alive after recent dramas.
It was a qualifying session dominated by a shattering of lap records, with seven drivers in round two smashing Logano's 25.310s previous mark, and all of the top six drivers in the final session beating it.
STARTING GRID:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 25.147s | - |
2 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 25.196s | 0.049s |
3 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 25.249s | 0.102s |
4 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 25.263s | 0.116s |
5 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 25.300s | 0.153s |
6 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 25.301s | 0.154s |
7 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 25.313s | 0.166s |
8 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 25.340s | 0.193s |
9 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 25.341s | 0.194s |
10 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 25.382s | 0.235s |
11 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 25.458s | 0.311s |
12 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 25.458s | 0.311s |
13 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 25.412s | - |
14 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 25.415s | - |
15 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 25.461s | - |
16 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 25.470s | - |
17 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 25.481s | - |
18 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 25.483s | - |
19 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 25.542s | - |
20 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 25.588s | - |
21 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 25.645s | - |
22 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 25.663s | - |
23 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 25.668s | - |
24 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 25.763s | - |
25 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 25.808s | - |
26 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 25.814s | - |
27 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 25.850s | - |
28 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 25.878s | - |
29 | David Ragan | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 25.916s | - |
30 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 25.918s | - |
31 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 25.948s | - |
32 | Landon Cassill | Hillman Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | 26.047s | - |
33 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota | 26.056s | - |
34 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 26.110s | - |
35 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 26.112s | - |
36 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 26.125s | - |
37 | Jeb Burton | BK Racing | Toyota | 26.278s | - |
38 | Cole Whitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 26.312s | - |
39 | Joey Gase | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 26.326s | - |
40 | Brett Moffitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 26.381s | - |
41 | Ryan Preece | Phil Parsons Racing | Ford | 26.571s | - |
42 | Ryan Ellis | Circle Sport | Chevrolet | 26.724s | - |
43 | Timmy Hill | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27.375s | - |
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