Jimmie Johnson bounced back from a poor result in New Hampshire to win the pole for the Dover NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
If anyone thought that Johnson’s hopes for a record fifth-straight championship were over; he proved them wrong at the one-mile concrete oval known as the Monster Mile.
Johnson, who has five career wins at Dover, turned a lap of 155.736mph in a Chevrolet including sweeping both races there last year. He was 16th in the spring race.
"Certainly, this was a step in the right direction in momentum," said Johnson, who finished 25th last Sunday. "Last weekend, we ran much better than where we finished. It stinks that we finished where we did, but there's nothing we can really do about it, and to come out this weekend and qualify on the pole starts the weekend off on the right foot.
AJ Allmendinger was second fastest in a Ford at 155.642 mph. "We went out there [in practice] and were really fast in race trim, I felt," Allmendinger said. "We did a couple of runs there and went right into qualifying trim and went really fast. I would have liked to have had the pole.
"When you've got the No. 48 [Johnson] behind you (in line to qualify), it's tough to hold on, but the confidence that my race team and I are building together is the most important thing."
Mark Martin, who qualified in third, had his time thrown out because the right rear shock exceeded the maximum allowable gas pressure. He was dropped to 42nd for Sunday's race.
Martin Truex, who drives a Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing is slotted in third position.
Clint Bowyer, who was penalized 150 points following his New Hampshire victory after his car was found out of specification qualified 24th.
Sprint Chase points leader, Denny Hamlin will roll off fourth when the green flag calls. Johnson and Hamlin are the only Chasers to qualify in the top ten.
Jeff Green, Ted Musgrave and Josh Wise failed to qualify for the 43-car starting grid.
In other NASCAR news, Danica Patrick finished sixth in the K&N Pro series race on Friday. She said: “I learned a lot last night,” and she will race in Saturday’s Nationwide Race at Dover.
If anyone thought that Johnson’s hopes for a record fifth-straight championship were over; he proved them wrong at the one-mile concrete oval known as the Monster Mile.
Johnson, who has five career wins at Dover, turned a lap of 155.736mph in a Chevrolet including sweeping both races there last year. He was 16th in the spring race.
"Certainly, this was a step in the right direction in momentum," said Johnson, who finished 25th last Sunday. "Last weekend, we ran much better than where we finished. It stinks that we finished where we did, but there's nothing we can really do about it, and to come out this weekend and qualify on the pole starts the weekend off on the right foot.
AJ Allmendinger was second fastest in a Ford at 155.642 mph. "We went out there [in practice] and were really fast in race trim, I felt," Allmendinger said. "We did a couple of runs there and went right into qualifying trim and went really fast. I would have liked to have had the pole.
"When you've got the No. 48 [Johnson] behind you (in line to qualify), it's tough to hold on, but the confidence that my race team and I are building together is the most important thing."
Mark Martin, who qualified in third, had his time thrown out because the right rear shock exceeded the maximum allowable gas pressure. He was dropped to 42nd for Sunday's race.
Martin Truex, who drives a Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing is slotted in third position.
Clint Bowyer, who was penalized 150 points following his New Hampshire victory after his car was found out of specification qualified 24th.
Sprint Chase points leader, Denny Hamlin will roll off fourth when the green flag calls. Johnson and Hamlin are the only Chasers to qualify in the top ten.
Jeff Green, Ted Musgrave and Josh Wise failed to qualify for the 43-car starting grid.
In other NASCAR news, Danica Patrick finished sixth in the K&N Pro series race on Friday. She said: “I learned a lot last night,” and she will race in Saturday’s Nationwide Race at Dover.