Qualifying: Johnson on pole

Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr made it a Monte Carlo 1-2-3-4, Dodge's Ward Burton in fifth was the first non-Chevy driver.

"This is great," said Johnson, who was the 10th driver to set a time around the 2.66-mile oval. "We sat on the pole for Daytona and now, to do it again proves all the hard work by (crew chief) Chad Knaus and the crew is paying off.

"I'm not surprised - that was a very good lap. The thing that's amazing to me is this is the car we had at Daytona and it got the body knocked off it. The guys from the 24 and 48 teams worked hard to get it back together and we didn't get a chance to test or go to the wind tunnel."

Last year's pole winner Stacy Compton was sixth fastest in his AJ Foyt Pontiac, one place ahead of Johnny Benson - the penultimate driver to start his qualifying run - who ensured Johnson had a nail-biting wait to the end of the session. Ryan Newman was the second quickest rookie in eighth, ahead of Steve Park and Jeff '17 races without a win' Gordon.

With 10 of the top 20 positions filled by Chevrolets, there are a number of big names starting towards the back of the pack. Tony Stewart lines up 26th, Jeremy Mayfield 31st and Sterling Marlin 33rd. However, some other stars had an even worse time and only made the provisional grid, these include Ricky Rudd and former winners Dale Jarrett and Bobby Hamilton.

For qualifying results, click here.