It is not strange to see Jimmie Johnson at the front of the field at Martinsville Speedway so it should be no surprise that the driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet won the pole, breaking the track record. Johnson clocked in a lap of 19.244 seconds, 98.400 mph, for the 30th pole of his career, first of 2013.
“I’m really proud of (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) and the racecar he brought and all the work and effort that went into this … car today,” said Johnson, who won the last race at Martinsville last October. The car was fast right off the truck and I was happy I did my part and backed it up in qualifying.”
Tony Stewart held the previous track record at 19.306 seconds, 98.083 mph. He qualified 26th this year.
Marcos Ambrose would post the second quickest lap for his first top 10 start of 2013. Brian Vickers would time in third for his third top 10 start of the year. Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne qualified fourth and fifth.
Jeff Gordon qualified sixth, followed by Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman.
Points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 17th. Mark Martin, who is subbing for Denny Hamlin, qualified 35th.
The Sprint Cup Series will have two practices tomorrow to keep working on the cars.
