Jimmie Johnson poses with Doug Turnbull and the Pole Award Rifle after winning the pole during qualifying for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR
He did it again.
After winning from the pole last Sunday at Martinsville and grabbing the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup lead, Jimmie Johnson started the eighth Chase weekend in exactly the same way.
Speeding around Texas Motor Speedway in 28.261 seconds, Johnson won the pole for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500, edging Greg Biffle (190.382 mph) by .103 seconds.
The Coors Light pole award was Johnson’s first at the 1.5-mile track, his fourth of the season and the 29th of his career. The 20th driver to make a qualifying attempt, Johnson picked up three-quarters of a second from practice earlier in the day.
After making his banzai run, Johnson sat in his car until the 26 drivers who followed him had completed time trials — a “strategy” he employed with success last week at Martinsville.
“No way I’m superstitious,” Johnson quipped after Martin Truex Jr., the 46th driver out, failed to top him. “Race car drivers are never superstitious. I’ve been doing this a long time, and more times often than not, the guy that sets the pace climbs out of the car to a microphone, and then, ‘Oh, just knocked off the pole.’
“I tried this philosophy at Martinsville, and I’m not sure if it worked, but it kind of worked, so I figured I would stay in there the whole time, and it played out again.”
Kyle Busch (190.127 mph) qualified third, followed by Clint Bowyer (190.067 mph) and Truex (189.994 mph). Brad Keselowski, who trails Johnson by two points with three races left, claimed the eighth starting spot, his best effort in time trials in the Chase so far.
“It feels like a pole,” said Keselowski, who had qualified 22nd, 20th, 25th and 32nd in the previous four races. “It may not be a pole, but it feels like a pole to us. Our car has had a ton of speed since we’ve been here, in race trim, but qualifying trim has been our weakness all year.
“So I think that bodes very well for us come Sunday.”
Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet wasn’t up to speed when practice started, but the car improved as the session progressed.
“We didn’t unload like we wanted to, and the track was so fast the first 15 minutes that we missed an opportunity to really post a time,” Johnson said. “But as practice wore on, we improved the car, and the pace slowed up a lot, so we felt like we were in contention.
“But I think it surprised us all a little bit to lay one down like that.”
Stephen Leicht, Kelly Bires and David Stremme failed to make the 43-car field.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Texas Motor Speedway – Ft. Worth, TX
AAA Texas 500 Qualifying – Nov. 2, 2012
1 48 Jimmie Johnson 28.261 191.076
2 16 Greg Biffle 28.364 190.382
3 18 Kyle Busch 28.402 190.127
4 15 Clint Bowyer 28.411 190.067
5 56 Martin Truex Jr. 28.422 189.994
6 20 Joey Logano 28.457 189.760
This herbal supplement is completely secure for the health. Installed applications need to be updated on a regular basis, radio devices are installed in bulk taking services from suppliers. regencygrandenursing.com cialis prices This drug is to be taken at least an hour before sexual activity. There is testosterone replacement therapy for treating your erectile dysfunction. 7 21 Trevor Bayne 28.480 189.607
8 2 Brad Keselowski 28.491 189.534
9 99 Carl Edwards 28.500 189.474
10 17 Matt Kenseth 28.502 189.460
11 55 Mark Martin 28.527 189.294
12 11 Denny Hamlin 28.530 189.274
13 5 Kasey Kahne 28.573 188.990
14 43 Aric Alrmirola 28.575 188.976
15 9 Marcos Ambrose 28.583 188.923
16 24 Jeff Gordon 28.602 188.798
17 22 Sam Hornish Jr. 28.628 188.627
18 78 Kurt Busch 28.663 188.396
19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 28.669 188.357
20 13 Casey Mears 28.672 188.337
21 14 Tony Stewart 28.717 188.042
22 31 Jeff Burton 28.724 187.996
23 29 Kevin Harvick 28.757 187.780
24 1 Jamie McMurray 28.790 187.565
25 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 28.810 187.435
26 51 AJ Allmendinger 28.817 187.389
27 27 Paul Menard 28.823 187.350
28 37 JJ Yeley 28.836 187.266
29 47 Bobby Labonte 28.842 187.227
30 38 David Gilliland 28.899 186.858
31 95 Scott Speed 28.899 186.858
32 10 Danica Patrick 28.948 186.541
33 34 David Ragan 28.958 186.477
34 19 Mike Bliss 28.959 186.471
35 26 Josh Wise 28.968 186.413
36 39 Ryan Newman 28.975 186.368
37 98 Michael McDowell 29.022 186.066
38 93 Travis Kvapil 29.053 185.867
39 91 Reed Sorenson 29.077 185.714
40 36 Dave Blaney 29.204 184.906
41 83 Landon Cassill Owner Points
42 32 Ken Schrader Owner Points
43 87 Joe Nemechek 29.097 185.586
Did Not Qualify: Stephen Leicht, Kelly Bires, David Stremme
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.