Johnson blisters Homestead to take pole
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| Jimmie Johnson |
Don't think Jimmie Johnson came to Homestead to coast to the title. With a blistering qualifying lap, the points leader put his No. 48 on the pole, bumping his only pursuer, Mark Martin, from the P1 position, forcing the field to again play follow the leader.
Johnson earned his 23rd career pole by turning a lap of 173.919 mph in his Lowe's Chevrolet. It was Johnson's fourth pole of 2009 and second career at the 1.5-mile Homestead track.
Scott Speed surprised the field with a late session run of 172.695 mph to take the outside pole.
Speed equaled his best start of the season. He also qualified second at Chicagoland.
Marcos Ambrose qualified third for his best qualifying effort on an oval in 2009 and the run equaled his best effort since Sonoma.
Mark Martin, who is the only driver that has a mathematical shot of winning the championship, qualified fourth. Tony Stewart rounded out the top five.
Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Bill Elliot and Clint Bowyer completed the first ten qualifiers.
Results
|
POS |
CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's | 173.919 | 31.049 | Leader |
| 2 | 82 | Scott Speed* | Toyota | Red Bull | 172.695 | 31.269 | -0.220 |
| 3 | 47 | Marcos Ambrose | Toyota | Little Debbie Cupcakes / Kingsford / Clorox | 172.678 | 31.272 | -0.223 |
| 4 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | Kellogg's / Carquest | 172.353 | 31.331 | -0.282 |
| 5 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Old Spice | 172.243 | 31.351 | -0.302 |
| 6 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Shell / Pennzoil | 172.145 | 31.369 | -0.320 |
| 7 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | U.S. Army / All-American Bowl | 172.035 | 31.389 | -0.340 |
| 8 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M | 172.024 | 31.391 | -0.342 |
| 9 | 21 | Bill Elliott | Ford | Motorcraft | 171.860 | 31.421 | -0.372 |
| 10 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Cheerios / Hamburger Helper | 171.838 | 31.425 | -0.376 |
| 11 | 26 | Jamie McMurray | Ford | Crown Royal | 171.838 | 31.425 | -0.376 |
| 12 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Miller Lite | 171.794 | 31.433 | -0.384 |
| 13 | 44 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Ford. Drive one. | 171.750 | 31.441 | -0.392 |
| 14 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Tracker | 171.646 | 31.460 | -0.411 |
| 15 | 07 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | Jack Daniel's | 171.630 | 31.463 | -0.414 |
| 16 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 171.576 | 31.473 | -0.424 |
| 17 | 202 | David Gilliland | Toyota | Farm Bureau Insurance | 171.461 | 31.494 | -0.445 |
| 18 | 36 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | Wave Energy Drink | 171.434 | 31.499 | -0.450 |
| 19 | 171 | Bobby Labonte | Chevrolet | TaxSlayer.com | 171.396 | 31.506 | -0.457 |
| 20 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont | 171.336 | 31.517 | -0.468 |
| 21 | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Dodge | Best Buy | 171.331 | 31.518 | -0.469 |
| 22 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron's Dream Machine | 171.276 | 31.528 | -0.479 |
| 23 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 171.162 | 31.549 | -0.500 |
| 24 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 170.994 | 31.580 | -0.531 |
| 25 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Dodge | Budweiser | 170.967 | 31.585 | -0.536 |
| 26 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 170.967 | 31.585 | -0.536 |
| 27 | 12 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Penske Racing | 170.816 | 31.613 | -0.564 |
| 28 | 37 | Travis Kvapil | Chevrolet | Long John Silver's | 170.805 | 31.615 | -0.566 |
| 29 | 77 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Mobil 1 | 170.794 | 31.617 | -0.568 |
| 30 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M's | 170.648 | 31.644 | -0.595 |
| 31 | 96 | Erik Darnell | Ford | Hall of Fame Racing | 170.530 | 31.666 | -0.617 |
| 32 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | National Guard / Amp Energy | 170.454 | 31.680 | -0.631 |
| 33 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 170.411 | 31.688 | -0.639 |
| 34 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Dewalt | 170.379 | 31.694 | -0.645 |
| 35 | 20 | Joey Logano* | Toyota | Home Depot | 170.272 | 31.714 | -0.665 |
| 36 | 98 | Paul Menard | Ford | Johns Manville / Menards | 170.266 | 31.715 | -0.666 |
| 37 | 7 | Matt Crafton | Toyota | Mapei / Menards | 169.881 | 31.787 | -0.738 |
| 38 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Express | 169.715 | 31.818 | -0.769 |
| 39 | 55 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 169.353 | 31.886 | -0.837 |
| 40 | 34 | John Andretti | Chevrolet | Taco Bell | 169.274 | 31.901 | -0.852 |
| 41 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS | 169.072 | 31.939 | -0.890 |
| 42 | 43 | Reed Sorenson+ | Dodge | Siemens | 169.003 | 31.952 | -0.903 |
| 43 | 08 | Terry Labonte | Toyota | FanCar | Champion's Provisional | ||
| DNQ | |||||||
| 44 | 187 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | NEMCO Motorsports | 170.708 | 31.633 | -0.584 |
| 45 | 66 | Dave Blaney | Toyota | Prism Motorsports | 168.940 | 31.964 | -0.915 |
| 46 | 170 | Mike Skinner | Chevrolet | Adobe Road Winery | 168.660 | 32.017 | -0.968 |
| 47 | 113 | Max Papis* | Toyota | GEICO | 168.529 | 32.042 | -0.993 |
| 48 | 09 | David Stremme | Chevrolet | Miccosukee Resort & Gaming | – | – | – |
+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie