It's hard to think of some record that Jimmie Johnson doesn’t own. On Friday evening, the four-time and defending Sprint Cup Champion might have scared himself with his first Bristol pole
“Go to a driver and ask them to hold their hand out and based on how much their hand shakes or doesn’t shake, you can see how close to the edge they were. My hands are trembling,” he said after getting out of his Chevrolet.
“That car was extremely loose. I ran the second lap because I didn’t think that first lap was fast enough. I was steering right the entire way through the turn, trying to give it some gas. The old saying that loose is fast worked really well. Just very thankful to have these great guys at Hendrick Motorsports working on my car,” Johnson explained.
Johnson, who won the spring race Bristol averaged 123.475 mph in Friday's qualifying. It was his 24th career pole and first of the year.
Carl Edwards, driving a Ford averaged 122.937 mph, couldn’t believe his eyes watching Johnson. “I couldn’t believe Jimmie got the pole running the bottom. I thought the top was faster. For me, it was faster on the top. When I was watching his lap on the big screen I thought, ‘Oh, he’s on the bottom. He screwed this up,’ and, lo and behold, he ran a really fast lap.”
Joey Logano had one of his better qualifying days taking third spot in a Toyota. He was a bit surprised because his JGR team struggled in practice.
“Apparently, Greg Zipadelli (his crew chief) and the Home Depot team figured something out while we were in Nationwide qualifying over there. I went out there and dropped it off in (turns) one and two and picked up the gas and, ‘Oh, there it is. Where did that come from?’ It was pretty cool. When Carl (Edwards) ran his lap, he beat me by just a little bit and I was thinking, ‘Oh man it would stink to get beat by that much.’ But Jimmie (Johnson) ran a really fast lap. I don’t think I had that much in me.”
Tony Stewart completed the second row in a Chevrolet. Casey Mears, who took over Max Papis regular drive, qualified 43rd.
Dave Blaney, Joe Nemechek, Kevin Lepage, JJ Yeley, Brian Keselowski and Mike Bliss failed to qualify for the race.
“Go to a driver and ask them to hold their hand out and based on how much their hand shakes or doesn’t shake, you can see how close to the edge they were. My hands are trembling,” he said after getting out of his Chevrolet.
“That car was extremely loose. I ran the second lap because I didn’t think that first lap was fast enough. I was steering right the entire way through the turn, trying to give it some gas. The old saying that loose is fast worked really well. Just very thankful to have these great guys at Hendrick Motorsports working on my car,” Johnson explained.
Johnson, who won the spring race Bristol averaged 123.475 mph in Friday's qualifying. It was his 24th career pole and first of the year.
Carl Edwards, driving a Ford averaged 122.937 mph, couldn’t believe his eyes watching Johnson. “I couldn’t believe Jimmie got the pole running the bottom. I thought the top was faster. For me, it was faster on the top. When I was watching his lap on the big screen I thought, ‘Oh, he’s on the bottom. He screwed this up,’ and, lo and behold, he ran a really fast lap.”
Joey Logano had one of his better qualifying days taking third spot in a Toyota. He was a bit surprised because his JGR team struggled in practice.
“Apparently, Greg Zipadelli (his crew chief) and the Home Depot team figured something out while we were in Nationwide qualifying over there. I went out there and dropped it off in (turns) one and two and picked up the gas and, ‘Oh, there it is. Where did that come from?’ It was pretty cool. When Carl (Edwards) ran his lap, he beat me by just a little bit and I was thinking, ‘Oh man it would stink to get beat by that much.’ But Jimmie (Johnson) ran a really fast lap. I don’t think I had that much in me.”
Tony Stewart completed the second row in a Chevrolet. Casey Mears, who took over Max Papis regular drive, qualified 43rd.
Dave Blaney, Joe Nemechek, Kevin Lepage, JJ Yeley, Brian Keselowski and Mike Bliss failed to qualify for the race.