Johnson on pole at Dover as top two rows all Chasers

Practice makes perfect.

At a Goodyear tire test Aug. 4-5 at Dover International Speedway, Jimmie Johnson got a sneak preview of Sunday's AAA 400. Specifically, he ran and recommended the same tire Goodyear brought back to the track for Sunday's race.

AAA 400

Lineup

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
2.	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet
3.	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet
4.	Greg Biffle	Ford
5.	David Reutimann	Toyota
6.	Kasey Kahne	Dodge
7.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
8.	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet
9.	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge
10.	Paul Menard	Ford

• Complete Lineup | Photos

Qualifying Video

• Johnson races to pole
• Montoya on front row
• Sadler blows engine

Call it coincidence, but Johnson also ran the fastest lap in Friday's qualifying session at the Monster Mile, touring the high-banked, concrete track in 22.878 seconds (157.356 mph) to earn his second pole of the season, the 21st of his career and his second at Dover. Johnson also had the fastest speed in the opening practice session, topping out at 158.026 mph.

Johnson, who was the 28th driver to make a qualifying attempt, has four wins at Dover, including a victory in the most recent race in May.

"A pole will make the start of the weekend much better and give us a lot of direction and momentum," Johnson said. "It does carry you, and there is an aspect of momentum. But at the same time, you've got to go out and perform."

Johnson edged Juan Montoya (156.699 mph), whose No. 42 Chevrolet was the first car on the track.

"When Jimmie ran those laps in practice, I knew unless he did a huge mistake, we're not going to get that pole," Montoya said. "There was no way I was going to get any more out of the car. I didn't have anything else."

Ryan Newman (156.393 mph) qualified third and Greg Biffle (156.284 mph) will start fourth, as Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers occupied the top four spots and six of the top seven.

David Reutimann, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Sam Hornish Jr. and Paul Menard completed the top 10.

Kahne needed to strong starting position to bolster his chances of a top-10 finish and bouncing back from placing 39th in the Chase opener at New Hampshire after he lost his motor early. He is 12th in the standings, 161 points out of first place and 48 out of 11th.

"We're definitely in a hole, that's part of it," Kahne said. "Hopefully everybody has a bad race and if not, if some of them do, we gain some points back and just do the best job that we can. At this point, all that we can do is try hard."

Cup points leader Mark Martin will start 14th. In addition to the top four, Martin, Kahne and Gordon, other Chase drivers qualified as follows: Brian Vickers, 12th; Denny Hamlin, 13th; Kurt Busch, 16th; Tony Stewart, 22nd; and Carl Edwards, 30th.

Martin holds only a 35-point lead over Johnson in the point standings. While Martin is chasing his first career Cup title, Johnson is poised to win his fourth in a row in the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Johnson had one of the more dominating performances of his career at Dover the last time out. He led the majority of the race until a poor pit stop dropped him back in the field and he had to chase down Tony Stewart before pulling into Victory Lane a winner.

"You kind of hope things end up your way with pit strategy," Johnson said. "It's important to have a fast and stable race car so that you can come up through the pack if you lose track position. I think it was real helpful for us in the spring race. If I didn't have a comfortable car to drive, I wouldn't have gone anywhere."

Notes: The engine in Elliott Sadler's No. 19 Dodge blew during qualifying. He'll start at the rear of the field after changing power plants. ... Scott Wimmer was the only driver failing to qualify for the 43-car field. ... ESPN pit reporter Shannon Spake, expecting twins in January, is wearing a special two-piece fire suit, with a gusset designed to expand as she does.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.