Jimmie Johnson wins pole for Coca-Cola 600
May 22, 2014
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
CONCORD, N.C. —
The top spot on the grid is a comfortable place for Jimmie Johnson, who
won the pole position for
Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 with a speed of 194.911 mph in the final round
of knockout qualifying Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Johnson is the last
driver to win NASCAR’s longest race from the pole, a feat he
accomplished in 2004. In fact, Johnson is the only driver to win from
the pole at Charlotte in this century,
having also taken the checkered flag from the top starting position in
the fall race of 2009.
When Johnson wins a
Coors Light pole award, history indicates he’ll probably be fast in race
trim as well. So chances are, the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
champion will be a serious threat
to end an uncharacteristically long 13-race winless streak dating to
last season.
“It was a really strong
lap,” Johnson acknowledged. “I’m very pleased with it. Happy to get this
Lowe’s Chevrolet on the pole for this big race coming up Sunday
afternoon. We knew we had a
great race car today, so it was nice to get out there and work our way
through the three segments here and get it done.
“On the first run we
missed it a little bit, but (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) knew exactly how
to dial me in for the second one. We got a lot closer and, for the third
segment, laid down a good
lap.”
Thursday’s pole was
Johnson’s first of the season, his fifth at Charlotte and the 33rd of
his career. Brad Keselowski qualified second at 194.567 mph, followed by
Kasey Kahne (193.618 mph)
and Danica Patrick (193.334 mph).
For Keselowski, the
front row start is his seventh in 12 races this year, with six of those
coming from the second position on the grid. Keselowski’s only pole came
at Phoenix, in the second
race of the season.
Patrick paced the second
round, a 10-minute session, at 194.595 mph, the fastest qualifying lap
ever run by a female driver at a 1.5-mile intermediate speedway.
“We have a lot to be
proud of,” Patrick said. “I mean, let’s face it, this is the part of the
weekend that I dreaded every time. I had to train myself to not say ‘I
hate qualifying.’
“We were (sixth) in a
round (the 25-minute first round), we were first in a round, and we were
fourth in a round. A lot to be proud of at Stewart-Haas and for the
GoDaddy car, and it’s going
to give us a great starting spot for Sunday.”
Kevin Harvick had
perhaps the fastest car but didn’t have the chance to prove it in the
final five-minute round. When the clock ran out in the session, Harvick
was approaching the start/finish
line, but because he failed to start his lap before time expired, he
didn’t post a lap that counted in the session.
Accordingly, Harvick,
one of the favorites to win the 600, will start 11th. Matt Kenseth, who
likewise failed to take the green in Round 3, starts 12th.
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