Johnson to pace Sprint Cup finale
HOMESTEAD (AP) – Jimmie Johnson will go for his fourth straight Cup title from the pole.
Johnson turned a lap of 173.919 mph Friday to win the pole at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He qualified first hours after it was announced he has signed a contract extension to drive for Hendrick Motorsports through the 2015 season.
Scott Speed will start second. Marcos Ambrose starts third with Mark Martin and Tony Stewart rounding out the top five.
Johnson goes into Sunday’s finale with a 108-point lead over Martin and needs only to finish 25th or better to win the title.
Ford 400
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Friday’s Qualifying Results
at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Lineup for Sunday’s race with postiion, car number in parentheses, driver, car make and speed in mph:
1. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 173.919.
2. (82) Scott Speed, Toyota, 172.695.
3. (47) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 172.678.
4. (5) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 172.353.
5. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 172.243.
6. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 172.144.
7. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 172.035.
8. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 172.024.
9. (21) Bill Elliott, Ford, 171.86.
10. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 171.838.
11. (26) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 171.838.
12. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 171.794.
13. (44) AJ Allmendinger, Ford, 171.75.
14. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 171.647.
15. (07) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 171.63.
16. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 171.576.
17. (02) David Gilliland, Toyota, 171.461.
18. (36) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 171.434.
19. (71) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 171.396.
20. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 171.336.
21. (19) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 171.331.
22. (00) David Reutimann, Toyota, 171.276.
23. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 171.162.
24. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 170.994.
25. (9) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 170.967.
26. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 170.967.
27. (12) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 170.816.
28. (37) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 170.805.
29. (77) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 170.794.
30. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 170.648.
31. (96) Erik Darnell, Ford, 170.53.
32. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 170.455.
33. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 170.412.
34. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 170.379.
35. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 170.272.
36. (98) Paul Menard, Ford, 170.266.
37. (7) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 169.881.
38. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 169.715.
39. (55) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 169.353.
40. (34) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 169.274.
41. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 169.072.
42. (43) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, Owner Points.
43. (08) Terry Labonte, Toyota, Past Champion.
Failed to Qualify
44. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 170.708.
45. (66) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 168.94.
46. (70) Mike Skinner, Chevrolet, 168.66.
47. (13) Max Papis, Toyota, 168.529.
48. (09) David Stremme, Chevrolet.