Johnson Wins Pole For Phoenix; Starting Lineup

AVONDALE, AZ – 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.

Starting Lineup

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.

– by Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service