FORT WORTH, Texas (November 2, 2012) – Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and current points leader Jimmie Johnson captured the pole for the AAA Texas 500 during Friday’s SportsDay Qualifying Day Powered by The Dallas Morning News at Texas Motor Speedway.
Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet) put on an impressive display of speed as his lap of 191.076 miles per hour (28.261 seconds) was more than 1/10 of a second quicker than his nearest competitor. The pole was his first at Texas Motor Speedway in 19 visits. It also was his fourth of the season and 29th of his career.
Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford), who won April’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, qualified second at 190.382 mph (28.364 secs.) and Kyle Busch (No. 18 Snickers Toyota) was third at 190.127 mph.
Rounding out the top five was the Michael Waltrip Racing duo of Clint Bowyer (No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota) at 190.067 mph and Martin Truex Jr. (No. 56 Carlyle Tools by NAPA Toyota), April’s polesitter, at 189.994 mph.
Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge), who trails Johnson by two points in the championship, will start eighth after a lap of 189.534 mph.
David Stremme, Kelly Bires and Stephen Leicht did not qualify for the 43-car starting field.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns Saturday for its two final practices, the first beginning at 2 p.m. CT and second at 4:45 p.m.
The AAA Texas 500, the eighth race of the 10-event Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, is set for 2 p.m. Sunday. Frontstretch tickets are still available by visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com or by calling (817) 215-8500.
| Pos | Car | Driver |
| 1 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson |
| 2 | 16 | Greg Biffle |
| 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch |
| 4 | 15 | Clint Bowyer |
| 5 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. |
| 6 | 20 | Joey Logano |
| 7 | 21 | Trevor Bayne(i) |
| 8 | 2 | Brad Keselowski |
| 9 | 99 | Carl Edwards |
| 10 | 17 | Matt Kenseth |
| 11 | 55 | Mark Martin |
| 12 | 11 | Denny Hamlin |
| 13 | 5 | Kasey Kahne |
| 14 | 43 | Aric Alrmirola |
| 15 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose |
| 16 | 24 | Jeff Gordon |
| 17 | 22 | Sam Hornish Jr.(i) |
| 18 | 78 | Kurt Busch |
| 19 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| 20 | 13 | Casey Mears |
| 21 | 14 | Tony Stewart |
| 22 | 31 | Jeff Burton |
| 23 | 29 | Kevin Harvick |
| 24 | 1 | Jamie McMurray |
| 25 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya |
| 26 | 51 | AJ Allmendinger |
| 27 | 27 | Paul Menard |
| 28 | 37 | JJ Yeley |
| 29 | 47 | Bobby Labonte |
| 30 | 38 | David Gilliland |
| 31 | 95 | Scott Speed |
| 32 | 10 | Danica Patrick(i) |
| 33 | 34 | David Ragan |
| 34 | 19 | Mike Bliss(i) |
| 35 | 26 | Josh Wise # |
| 36 | 39 | Ryan Newman |
| 37 | 98 | Michael McDowell |
| 38 | 93 | Travis Kvapil |
| 39 | 91 | Reed Sorenson(i) |
| 40 | 36 | Dave Blaney |
| 41 | 83 | Landon Cassill |
| 42 | 32 | Ken Schrader |
| 43 | 87 | Joe Nemechek(i) |
| # Denotes
Rookie
(i) Ineligible for driver
points in this series |