NASCAR Loudon: Brad Keselowski beats Jimmie Johnson to pole
NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski beat his 2012 title rival Jimmie Johnson to pole position for Sunday's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Johnson, who holds a commanding lead in the current standings, was only on provisional pole for moments before next man out Keselowski's Penske Ford produced a 28.022-second lap to beat the Hendrick Chevrolet by 0.004 seconds.
Kurt Busch slipped his Furniture Row Chevy in between Hendrick pair Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr to take third, while his brother Kyle was fifth for Joe Gibbs after holding pole for a spell.
Juan Pablo Montoya was 11th but will fall to the rear of the field for the Loudon race as he had to switch to a back-up car following a practice crash.
On the day that it was announced he would be losing his Stewart-Haas seat to Kevin Harvick in 2014, Ryan Newman outqualified team boss Tony Stewart by 0.02s in 16th, with Harvick another two places back.
Morgan Shepherd is poised to break the record for the oldest driver to start a Cup race. The 71-year-old put Brian Keselowski's Toyota 42nd ahead of David Stremme, who crashed on his qualifying run.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford 28.022s 2. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 28.026s +0.004s 3. Kurt Busch Furniture Row Chevrolet 28.040s +0.018s 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 28.050s +0.028s 5. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota 28.056s +0.034s 6. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 28.104s +0.082s 7. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 28.112s +0.090s 8. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota 28.113s +0.091s 9. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet 28.144s +0.122s 10. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 28.162s +0.140s 11. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 28.191s +0.169s 12. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 28.198s +0.176s 13. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota 28.212s +0.190s 14. Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota 28.218s +0.196s 15. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 28.241s +0.219s 16. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 28.245s +0.223s 17. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 28.265s +0.243s 18. Aric Almirola Petty Ford 28.274s +0.252s 19. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 28.320s +0.298s 20. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 28.337s +0.315s 21. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota 28.405s +0.383s 22. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 28.418s +0.396s 23. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 28.458s +0.436s 24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford 28.459s +0.437s 25. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 28.462s +0.440s 26. Joey Logano Penske Ford 28.471s +0.449s 27. AJ Allmendinger Phoenix Chevrolet 28.471s +0.449s 28. David Reutimann BK Toyota 28.501s +0.479s 29. Casey Mears Germain Ford 28.545s +0.523s 30. David Ragan Front Row Ford 28.579s +0.557s 31. Michael McDowell Parsons Ford 28.639s +0.617s 32. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota 28.655s +0.633s 33. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 28.658s +0.636s 34. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 28.698s +0.676s 35. Mike Bliss Humphrey Smith Toyota 28.749s +0.727s 36. Josh Wise Front Row Ford 28.854s +0.832s 37. Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet 28.881s +0.859s 38. Ken Schrader FAS Lane Ford 28.953s +0.931s 39. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 29.048s +1.026s 40. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 29.053s +1.031s 41. JJ Yeley Baldwin Chevrolet 29.120s +1.098s 42. Morgan Shepherd Keselowski Toyota 29.689s +1.667s 43. David Stremme Swan Toyota
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