NASCAR Cup Series

Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Best Buy Ford Fusion (Finished 18th) -- “A shock fell off I guess. I guess it didn’t get tight. We had a brake line get loose at Bristol and a shock fall off today so obviously we have to get to the bottom of that.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT CHANGING ENGINES AFTER QUALIFYING FOURTH TODAY FOR TOMORROW’S RACE? “Yes, we have to change the engine and go to the back of the field. I don’t think we are super concerned. We had a great car in practice and qualified really well so we showed we have good speed. Fortunately, this is a race track that there are multiple pit strategies and it’s not a really simple straight forward pit strategy to call. I think there will be a lot of opportunities to use our good pit stops and place on pit road to get back towards the front.”

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, will lead the field to the green in Sunday’s Geico 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, round 27 on the tour and opening round of the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Johnson posted a lap of 29.530 seconds, 182.865 mph to capture his 27th pole of his Cup career. He moves into a tie for 24th all-time with Terry Labonte; and this marks his second pole at Chicagoland Speedway.

Jimmie Johnson captured the pole for Sunday’s GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway with a lap of 182.865 MPH (29.530 secs). This was Johnson's second pole of the season and 27th of his career.

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET – POLE WINNER TELL US ABOUT YOUR LAP OUT THERE DID YOU GET EVERYTHING? “I felt really good about that lap. I certainly hope that it holds up. I think it’s going to be our objective to try and be in the top 10 for qualifying at a minimum. Of course I’m hopeful that it hangs on for the pole that would be a great way to start the Chase.”

Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) Qualified 13th CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING LAP? “Our Miller Lite Dodge has been really good in race trim and this has been the best that we’ve been in qualifying at a mile-and-a-half in quite some time. Between our qualifying effort and how our car was in race trim, I’m really encouraged.”

8th, DENNY HAMLIN 26th, LANDON CASSILL 9th, CLINT BOWYER 31st, DAVID STREMME 10th, JOEY LOGANO 33rd, JOE NEMECHEK 15th, MARK MARTIN 34th, MIKEBLISS 18th, MARTIN TRUEX JR. 38th, TRAVIS KVAPIL 21st, KYLE BUSCH DNQ, REED SORENSON 23rd, BOBBY LABONTE DNQ, JASON LEFFLER

Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Best Buy Ford Fusion (Qualified 3rd) -- ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THAT LAP? “I was happy from the aspect that I got everything we could get out of it for today. I think there is two or three-tenths out there if someone gets their balance just right. I thought it was good strategy by Jimmy (Fennig) to try to go fast in the second practice, not in the first one, to go out earlier although I don’t think there will be a big difference today. I feel like I got a good lap but I think there is some more speed out there.”

Each race weekend, SRT Motorsports provides insight on the ‘Keys for Success’ for the upcoming race. This week SRT Motorsports engineer Howard Comstock discusses the GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

On Sept. 14, 2012, National Stock Car Racing Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook heard and considered the appeal of the six-week suspension penalty of crew member Grant Hutchens, team engineer for the Richard Childress Racing No. 27 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team.