Jimmie Johnson snags Coors Light Pole at Phoenix
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| Jimmie Johnson |
Jimmie Johnson played spoiler last Sunday at Texas, stealing a win from Brad Keselowski in the closing laps.
On Friday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway – though "spoiler" is not a role he relishes – the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion was at it again, winning the pole for Sunday's Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC) with a track-record lap at 143.158 mph (25.147 seconds).
Johnson, who was bounced from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in the first Challenger Rounnd, edged Chase driver Kurt Busch (142.880 mph) for the top spot on the grid.
The Coors Light Pole Award broke a 58-race drought for Johnson and his No. 48 Chevrolet team, who earned the most recent of his 34 career poles in May 2014 at Charlotte. The pole, his third at Phoenix, the last coming in November 2013 during his run for a sixth series title.
Johnson has four victories at Phoenix, the most recent in 2009.
"I don't think I want to play spoiler — I just want to go fast," Johnson said after his record run. "I just want to sit on the pole, win races, lead laps. I want to be the 48 that we know we're capable of. My motivation comes through that.
"I want to be the race team that we are and the driver that I am. It's not because I want to be the spoiler, and I'm not in the Chase, so let me get in the way. It has nothing to do with that."
For Busch, who for practical purposes must win on Sunday to advance to the Chase's Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the front-row starting spot is a welcome indicator of the speed in his car.
"The way that this weekend is shaping up for us, it's a great start," Busch said. "We know we need to win. The car, the crew and everybody we are all clicking on eight cylinders.
"We just didn't quite get the pole. Johnson put down an awesome lap, so congrats to him. We're outside pole, and we'll go from there."
For Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, who like Busch are dealing with must-win scenarios to advance in the Chase, Friday's time trials were a major disappointment. Neither driver qualified for the third and final round of knockout qualifying, with Logano earning the 14th starting spot and Keselowski the 18th.
"We just missed it a little bit," Logano said after the second round. "I wish we were in the next round and going for a pole, but the fact of the matter is we're going to start 14th, and we're going to work on our car (during Saturday's practice) and get it ready to win a race on Sunday."
Kevin Harvick, who has won the last four races at Phoenix, qualified eighth. Other Chase drivers will start as follows: Carl Edwards, fourth; Martin Truex Jr., fifth; Kyle Busch, 10th; and Jeff Gordon, 12th. Gordon is the only one of the eight eligible drivers who has already clinched a spot in the Championship Round – thanks to his Nov. 1 victory at Martinsville.
Just because of the qualifying effort, however, don't discount Harvick's chances for a fifth straight victory at the one-mile track.
"We didn't qualify as well as we did last time, but the car was really good in race trim as we practiced today," Harvick said. "We just never really found anything that worked for us in qualifying trim."
Notes: Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified third … In both the second and third rounds, seven drivers ran faster than the previous track qualifying record of 142.141 mph set by Joey Logano in November 2014.
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER
A WIN AND A POLE, ARE YOU ON A ROLL?
“Yeah, we are. We didn’t have the summer that we wanted, but these guys have been working so hard on the No. 48 team and at Hendrick Motorsports. So, I’m very happy to see the progress and the direction things are going. It’s been a little bit, everywhere. If we keep doing that, we’re going to close this season out just like we want to and be ready for 2016."
ARE YOU SHOCKED THAT YOUR FIRST POLE COMES AT PHOENIX, THAT’S NEARLY THE LAST RACE OF THE YEAR?
“Yeah, especially at the ‘new’ Phoenix. The ‘old’ Phoenix was great for me. This has been a lot harder. But a big shout out to Lowe’s and Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet; and I certainly want to send my thoughts and prayers across the pond to everybody in France."
AND I’M SURE PLAYING THAT ‘SPOILER-ROLE’ IS FUN, TOO; LIKE YOU DID LAST WEEK
“There’s nothing better. If you can’t be in it, you may as well go out there and spoil it."
FIRST POLE OF THE SEASON, GREAT RUN HERE TODAY:
“Qualifying has never really been my sweet spot. It’s nice to get one. I definitely wanted one this year. I didn’t think it would come at this ‘new’ Phoenix racetrack. The ‘old’ Phoenix was real good to us, but we have been searching to get it right here. I’m just so thankful that everybody on this No. 48 team and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports have been working so hard to get better. We picked up a lot in many place or a little in a lot of places I should say and it’s turned into a lot. Very proud of this Lowe’s team, everybody at Chevrolet and also want to send and prayers across the pond to everybody in Paris and France."
KURT BUSCH, NO. 41 HAAS AUTOMATION CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 2ND
HOW BIG IS FOR YOUR TEAM TO START FROM THE FRONT ROW?
“It’s great. The Haas Automation Chevy has been fast since we got here. The way that this weekend is shaping up for us it’s a great start. We know we need to win. The car, the crew and everybody we are all clicking on eight cylinders. We just didn’t quite get the pole, (Jimmie) Johnson put down an awesome lap, so congrats to him. We are outside pole and we will go from there."
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – QUALIFIED 3RD
ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN:
“I think we are starting to head in a new direction for our qualifying efforts. That is two weeks in a row I think we made the last round. I don’t know if we done that all year long. We think we have some winning cars; we just need to qualify a little better and give ourselves an opportunity to get a better pit selection. Not only start toward the front, but get a better pit selection that really gives you an advantage in the race."
Results
| Pos. | Car # | Driver | Manufacturer | Sponsor | Speed | Time | Behind |
| 1 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's Patriotic | 143.158 | 25.147 | Leader |
| 2 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | Haas Automation | 142.88 | 25.196 | 0.049 |
| 3 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | Nationwide | 142.58 | 25.249 | 0.102 |
| 4 | 19 | Carl Edwards | Toyota | Stanley | 142.501 | 25.263 | 0.116 |
| 5 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Chevrolet | Furniture Row/Visser Precision | 142.292 | 25.3 | 0.153 |
| 6 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | Target Camo | 142.287 | 25.301 | 0.154 |
| 7 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | Dollar General | 142.219 | 25.313 | 0.166 |
| 8 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Budweiser / Jimmy John's | 142.068 | 25.34 | 0.193 |
| 9 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Farmers Insurance | 142.062 | 25.341 | 0.194 |
| 10 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M's Crispy | 141.833 | 25.382 | 0.235 |
| 11 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Pepsi | 141.409 | 25.458 | 0.311 |
| 12 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Sherwin Williams | 141.409 | 25.458 | 0.311 |
| 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Express | 141.665 | 25.412 | 0.265 |
| 14 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | Pennzoil | 141.649 | 25.415 | 0.268 |
| 15 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Duracell / Menards | 141.393 | 25.461 | 0.314 |
| 16 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | Bad Boy Buggies / Realtree | 141.343 | 25.47 | 0.323 |
| 17 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | United States Air Force | 141.282 | 25.481 | 0.334 |
| 18 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | Miller Lite | 141.271 | 25.483 | 0.336 |
| 19 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | Cargill Ford Fusion | 140.944 | 25.542 | 0.395 |
| 20 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | Jardiance Ford Fusion | 140.691 | 25.588 | 0.441 |
| 21 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | GoDaddy | 140.378 | 25.645 | 0.498 |
| 22 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Caterpillar Global Mining | 140.28 | 25.663 | 0.516 |
| 23 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | Fry's/Clorox | 140.252 | 25.668 | 0.521 |
| 24 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | GEICO Military | 139.735 | 25.763 | 0.616 |
| 25 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | Brandt | 139.492 | 25.808 | 0.661 |
| 26 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Advocare Ford Fusion | 139.459 | 25.814 | 0.667 |
| 27 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5 Hour Energy | 139.265 | 25.85 | 0.703 |
| 28 | 9 | Sam Hornish Jr | Ford | Go Bowling / G1GABLAST | 139.114 | 25.878 | 0.731 |
| 29 | 55 | David Ragan | Toyota | Aaron's Online Dream Machine | 138.91 | 25.916 | 0.769 |
| 30 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | VooDoo Barbeque | 138.9 | 25.918 | 0.771 |
| 31 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Bass Pro Shops | 138.739 | 25.948 | 0.801 |
| 32 | 40 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | Interstate Moving Services | 138.212 | 26.047 | 0.9 |
| 33 | 26 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | Maxim | 138.164 | 26.056 | 0.909 |
| 34 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | Love's Travel Stops | 137.878 | 26.11 | 0.963 |
| 35 | 7 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | Nikko RC / Toy State | 137.868 | 26.112 | 0.965 |
| 36 | 46 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | Pilot Flying J | 137.799 | 26.125 | 0.978 |
| 37 | 23 | Jeb Burton | Toyota | Dr. Pepper | 136.997 | 26.278 | 1.131 |
| 38 | 35 | Cole Whitt | Ford | TBD | 136.82 | 26.312 | 1.165 |
| 39 | 32 | Joey Gase | Ford | R FACTOR 2 | 136.747 | 26.326 | 1.179 |
| 40 | 34 | Brett Moffitt | Ford | Dockside | 136.462 | 26.381 | 1.234 |
| 41 | 98 | Ryan Preece | Ford | Xyience | 135.486 | 26.571 | 1.424 |
| 42 | 33 | Ryan Ellis | Chevrolet | ScienceLogic | 134.71 | 26.724 | 1.577 |
| 43 | 62 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | Prairie Auto Credit/Financial Concepts | 131.507 | 27.375 | 2.228 |