Jimmie Johnson won the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for pole position for Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Kentucky Speedway. Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
At a track that used to eat up his race cars, Jimmie Johnson was fastest of the fast in Friday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying session at Kentucky Speedway.
The 43rd of 44 drivers to make a timed run, Johnson toured the 1.5-mile speedway in 29.700 seconds (181.818 mph) to win the pole for Sunday’s Quaker State 400, the second Cup race at Kentucky. Johnson claimed his first Coors Light pole award since Sept. 26, 2010 at Dover and the 26th of his career.
Kyle Busch (181.421 mph) qualified second, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin (181.147 mph). Kevin Harvick will start fourth after a lap at 180.367 mph, one spot ahead of Ryan Newman (180.337 mph).
“It was a good lap — qualifying has not been our strong suit in the last couple of years,” Johnson said. “I’m very happy to get this pole today. My Chevy’s bad fast, and I’m looking forward to going racing.
“I’ve had a lot of crashes here over the years. We used to test here a lot back in the day, and turns 3 and 4 have taken quite a few (No.) 48 race cars from us. To run well last year (third at Kentucky) was really good for me. I came back with a lot of confidence. Conditions earlier today were so slick that it took a while to get the feeling I was looking for, but I think we’re on the right track now.”
Series leader Matt Kenseth earned the 20th starting position. Clint Bowyer, last week’s winner at Sonoma, will take the green flag from the sixth position, one position better than that of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Violent winds interrupted the session for 17 minutes after 20 cars had made qualifying attempts. After the wind subsided, drivers began running significantly quicker laps on a cooler track. Tony Stewart, the first driver to make a run after the delay, was more than a full mile per hour faster than the top qualifier before the wind storm, Scott Speed.
“My motor home was swaying so hard, I thought somebody had run into me in the motor home lot,” said Johnson, who took refuge in his coach during the storm.
As qualifying progressed, speeds continued to escalate, as the fastest cars in Friday’s opening practice took their turns in inverse order, slower to faster. Greg Biffle, the 25th driver to attempt qualifying, toured the 1.5-mile track in 30.041 seconds (179.754 mph), but his reign at the top of the chart was short-lived.
Jeff Gordon, the 29th qualifier, was the first to run a sub-30-second lap (29.994 seconds) and the first to top 180 mph (180.036 mph), but Newman soon knocked him off the provisional pole with a lap at 180.337 mph.
J.J. Yeley and Mike Skinner failed to make the 43-car field.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Kentucky Speedway – Sparta, KY
Quaker State 400 Qualifying – June 29, 2012
1 48 Jimmie Johnson 29.700 181.818
2 18 Kyle Busch 29.765 181.421
3 11 Denny Hamlin 29.810 181.147
4 29 Kevin Harvick 29.939 180.367
5 39 Ryan Newman 29.944 180.337
6 15 Clint Bowyer 29.962 180.228
7 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 29.963 180.222
8 2 Brad Keselowski 29.966 180.204
9 24 Jeff Gordon 29.994 180.036
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11 16 Greg Biffle 30.041 179.754
12 9 Marcos Ambrose 30.082 179.509
13 43 Aric Almirola 30.111 179.336
14 51 Kurt Busch 30.133 179.206
15 27 Paul Menard 30.155 179.075
16 22 AJ Allmendinger 30.160 179.045
17 1 Jamie McMurray 30.169 178.992
18 20 Joey Logano 30.190 178.867
19 5 Kasey Kahne 30.212 178.737
20 17 Matt Kenseth 30.298 178.230
21 13 Casey Mears 30.367 177.825
22 14 Tony Stewart 30.371 177.801
23 83 Landon Cassill 30.505 177.020
24 95 Scott Speed 30.594 176.505
25 99 Carl Edwards 30.644 176.217
26 78 Regan Smith 30.687 175.970
27 87 Joe Nemechek 30.729 175.730
28 47 Bobby Labonte 30.749 175.615
29 31 Jeff Burton 30.820 175.211
30 26 Josh Wise 30.843 175.080
31 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 30.846 175.063
32 30 David Stremme 30.900 174.757
33 34 David Ragan 30.911 174.695
34 93 Travis Kvapil 30.963 174.402
35 98 Michael McDowell 30.963 174.402
36 23 Scott Riggs 30.973 174.345
37 19 Mike Bliss 30.986 174.272
38 10 David Reutimann 31.122 173.511
39 55 Michael Waltrip 31.359 172.199
40 38 David Gilliland Owner Points
41 32 Ken Schrader Owner Points
42 36 Dave Blaney Owner Points
43 33 Stephen Leicht 31.190 173.132
Did Not Qualify: JJ Yeley, Mike Skinner
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