Johnson returns to form at Lowe's with pole run

CONCORD, N.C. -- Rain or no rain -- to Jimmie Johnson, it didn't matter -- at least in terms of his starting position.

After a persistent drizzle subsided Thursday afternoon, Johnson, the leader in the Chase, put his No. 48 Chevrolet on the pole for Saturday night's NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, and he did so in record fashion.

NASCAR Banking 500

Lineup

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
2.	Mark Martin	Chevrolet
3.	Kasey Kahne	Dodge
4.	Matt Kenseth	Ford
5.	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet
6.	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet
7.	Mike Bliss	Chevrolet
8.	Brad Keselowski	Chevrolet
9.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
10.	Kyle Busch	Toyota

• Lineup | Photo Gallery

Flying around 1.5-mile Lowe's Motor Speedway in 28.070 seconds (192.376 mph), Johnson posted the fastest qualifying lap ever run in NASCAR's new race car, which was introduced to Cup competition in 2007.

He broke the mark of 190.907 mph set by Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Texas in April 2008, and in doing so, edged Hendrick Motorsports teammate and second-place Chase driver Mark Martin (191.816 mph) for the top spot.

The pole was Johnson's third of the season and the 22nd of his career. He has five victories at Charlotte, including four consecutive in 2004-2005, but hasn't won at the track since it was repaved before the 2006 Coca-Cola 600.

"Man, it's fast," said Johnson, who would have started from the pole in the event of a qualifying rainout as the top car in the standings. "You're not out of the gas long. At the end of the straightaway, it doesn't seem that fast, because you're going so fast through the turn that the novelty has worn off once you get on the straightaway. ...

"Whatever is going on with the tire combination right now and the track, there's a ton of grip. These cars are putting up some fast laps."

Kasey Kahne (191.056 mph) will start third beside fourth-place qualifier Matt Kenseth (190.550 mph), the only non-Chase driver to crack the top six. Stewart-Haas teammates Tony Stewart (190.469 mph) and Ryan Newman (190.416 mph) earned the fifth and sixth starting positions during Thursday night's time trials.

Martin and Kahne also eclipsed the previous 2008 qualifying mark for the new car and expect the speed to carry over into Saturday night's race.

"An enormous amount of that speed was the track conditions," said Martin, who trails Johnson by 12 points with six races left in the Chase. "Surprisingly, it was really fast -- grippy -- for no rubber [after the rain]. Sometimes this place needs rubber to get better.

"I think it's going to be great [Saturday]. It's always great racing here and it continues to get better. And the teams continue to make the cars better."

News & Notes

• Contact with Jeff Burton's Chevrolet during Thursday's practice damaged the nose of Juan Montoya's Chevy, but the third-place Chase driver didn't feel it hurt his qualifying effort. Nevertheless, Montoya's 18th-place starting position is his worst of the Chase so far.

• Elliott Sadler still holds the overall qualifying record at LMS, set in NASCAR's previous race car (193.216 mph in October 2005).

• Michael McDowell, Sterling Marlin, Dave Blaney and Travis Kvapil failed to qualify for the race.