Mark Martin signs the Coors Light Pole Board after qualifying on the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Dover. Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images
The old man did it again.
Mark Martin, 53, the last driver to make a qualifying attempt Saturday at Dover International Speedway, ran .005 seconds faster than Jimmie Johnson to secure the top starting spot for Sunday’s FedEx 400, the 13th NASCAR Sprint Cup race of the season.
The Coors Light pole award was Martin’s third of the season, his fifth at Dover and the 54th of his career, eighth most all-time — but it didn’t come easily. Martin, posted a lap at 158.297 mph (22.742 seconds), but had to push his car beyond the edge to nip Johnson (158.263 mph) for the top spot on the grid.
“I’ll never do that again,” quipped Martin after his run. “I anticipated the car being loose, but I didn’t ask (crew chief) Rodney (Childers) if he tightened it up. I knew the conditions were looser than they were in our mock qualifying run (Friday), and I didn’t want to ask him because I didn’t want to be concerned.
“I knew that I only had to make it one mile without wrecking, and I was going to drive to the limit and slightly beyond, and I felt like I did that. I wouldn’t want to do that again. But I couldn’t sit on these poles without the fastest racecar, and MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) and Rodney Childers in particular and the guys on our team are doing that.”
Ryan Newman (158.235 mph) qualified third, followed by Clint Bowyer (158.047 mph) and Matt Kenseth (157.985 mph). Kevin Harvick, series leader Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin will start the race from positions six through 10, respectively.
Martin’s last-ditch effort prevented Johnson from claiming his first Cup pole since Sept. 26, 2010, at Dover.
“The lap was pretty strong,” Johnson said of his second-place run. “I knew off the corner — off (turns) 2 and 4 — I just couldn’t get the power down, being loose, and I left a little on the table. I felt it was more like a 10th (of a second), 10th and a half that I left out there, and Mark found five thousandths . . .
“Qualifying’s never been my strong suit, but I’ve been second a lot. But it is what it is. On the track, I’ll just have to take care of it and do a little better job there.”
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Dover International Speedway – Dover, DE
Fed Ex 400 Qualifying – June 2, 2012
1 55 Mark Martin 22.742 158.297
2 48 Jimmie Johnson 22.747 158.263
3 39 Ryan Newman 22.751 158.235
4 15 Clint Bowyer 22.778 158.047
5 17 Matt Kenseth 22.787 157.985
6 29 Kevin Harvick 22.804 157.867
7 16 Greg Biffle 22.808 157.839
8 18 Kyle Busch 22.808 157.839
9 51 Kurt Busch 22.841 157.611
10 11 Denny Hamlin 22.850 157.549
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12 43 Aric Almirola 22.858 157.494
13 5 Kasey Kahne 22.869 157.418
14 24 Jeff Gordon 22.871 157.405
15 31 Jeff Burton 22.877 157.363
16 2 Brad Keselowski 22.880 157.343
17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 22.882 157.329
18 56 Martin Truex Jr. 22.904 157.178
19 99 Carl Edwards 22.921 157.061
20 27 Paul Menard 22.956 156.822
21 9 Marcos Ambrose 22.956 156.822
22 47 Bobby Labonte 22.962 156.781
23 22 AJ Allmendinger 22.983 156.638
24 1 Jamie McMurray 22.994 156.563
25 79 Scott Speed 23.005 156.488
26 78 Regan Smith 23.009 156.461
27 83 Landon Cassill 23.037 156.270
28 34 David Ragan 23.045 156.216
29 14 Tony Stewart 23.059 156.121
30 38 David Gilliland 23.118 155.723
31 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 23.125 155.676
32 30 David Stremme 23.186 155.266
33 98 Michael McDowell 23.239 154.912
34 49 JJ Yeley 23.275 154.672
35 87 Joe Nemechek 23.292 154.560
36 19 Mike Bliss 23.292 154.560
37 33 Stephen Leicht 23.304 154.480
38 32 Reed Sorenson 23.362 154.096
39 10 David Reutimann 23.373 154.024
40 13 Casey Mears Owner Points
41 36 Dave Blaney Owner Points
42 93 Travis Kvapil Owner Points
43 23 Scott Riggs 23.304 154.480
Did Not Qualify: Josh Wise, Cole Whitt
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