Bowyer follows win with slow qual run at Dover

Just when Juan Montoya thought he was safely on the pole, Jimmie Johnson came out and stole his thunder.

The Chase co-leader went out 46th of 49 cars and shattered Montoya's mark with a lap at 23.261 seconds, 154.765 mph. He was the only driver to make it into the 23.2-second bracket, and also the only driver to top 154 mph.

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Chase Qualifiers

Pos.	Driver	Speed
1.	Jimmie Johnson	154.766
3.	Denny Hamlin	153.570
4.	Kurt Busch	153.518
5.	Martin Truex Jr.	153.211
7.	Kevin Harvick	152.879
10.	Matt Kenseth	152.362
15.	Carl Edwards	151.796
22.	Kyle Busch	151.477
27.	Jeff Gordon	151.178
28.	Tony Stewart	151.172
36.	Jeff Burton	150.420
42.	Clint Bowyer	148.038

He led a Chase barrage that saw seven of the Chase racers place in the top 15 -- but Johnson was the only one of the top four in points to qualify better than 27th.

Clint Bowyer's momentum after last week's dominant performance was short-lived, as he qualified dead last and will start 42nd.

Bowyer's lap (24.318 seconds, 148.038 mph) was the puzzler. After the lap, he said the car was "evil loose." It's going to be a long, hard road to at least eighth place on Sunday. Why eighth? Because that's where he's finished the last two times he's raced at Dover. Bowyer's average finish is 11.0, and he'll have to hustle to improve on it.

Denny Hamlin, who hasn't done all that great in qualifying but finishes well at Dover, was third overall at 23.442 seconds, 153.571 mph in the No. 11 Chevrolet. Hamlin was fourth at the finish last time out at Dover, and he averages an eighth-place finish after three starts on the strength of two top-10s. It's a COT race, so Hamlin will probably be a factor.

Kurt Busch has been good of late at Dover, and he showed it by logging in fourth at 23.450, 153.518 mph. Busch has yet to win at Dover, but he's had a pair of top-five runs in his last six Dover races. His finishing average is fair at 20.1, and he'll want to get some of the points he lost back after last week's carburetor trouble.

Truex, who won his first Cup race in June on Dover's banks, followed that up with a fifth-place run at 23.497, 153.211 mph. Truex only has three Dover starts, but it is his home track, and that's good for adrenaline, if nothing else. In those starts, he's won and been in the top 10 twice, leading 216 laps.

Kevin Harvick had a tough tire day at New Hampshire, so he responded by driving the wheels off his No. 29 Chevy for seventh (23.548 seconds, 152.413 mph). Harvick has two top-five and five top-10 finishes in 13 starts, though his finishing average of 17.8 is middle of the pack among the Chasers.

The first surprise of the day came with Matt Kenseth, who put the No. 17 Ford 10th for Sunday's 400-lapper. Kenseth has a respectable qualifying history at Dover, but hasn't been quick on Friday for several weeks. This week he was, posting a lap at 23.628 seconds, 152.362 mph.

His average finish is 14.1, and that will keep him close to the leaders in the Chase. He's 54 points behind Johnson and Jeff Gordon after one Chase race.

Carl Edwards put the No. 99 Ford in 15th (23.716, 151.796 mph), getting his weekend off to a much better start than last week at NHIS. He crashed his primary car there and was forced to a backup, which he then drove to 11th place on Sunday.

Edwards has finished half his six Dover starts in the top 10, with a best result second in this race last year. He averages 10.5 per finish, and if he hits it he'll likely cut into the 63-point deficit to Johnson and Gordon.

Kyle Busch is usually fast on Sunday, but not so much on Friday. That held true, as he put the No. 5 Chevy in 22nd. Busch's lap of 23.766 seconds, 151.477 mph was decent, and his starting spot is two under his average of 20.2. His finishing average of 13.2 is the key. His first three Dover starts went second-second-fifth, but his last two were 40th and 17th.

Jeff Gordon has led 2,198 laps at Dover in 29 starts, roughly 10 times what Truex led there in June. He'll have to hope he can add a few to that total after qualifying his No. 24 Chevy 27th at 23.813, 151.178 mph.

Gordon is preternaturally good at Dover, winning four times, logging 13 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes, but he hasn't won there since the spring of 2001. In the 12 races since he last tasted victory, he's had four top-five and seven top-10 results -- and four finishes of 36th or worse. His average finish of 12.3 is good for seventh among the Chasers.

Tony Stewart, who had a memorable run-in with Kurt Busch the last time the series visited Dover, was 28th after a lap at 23.814 seconds, 151.172 mph. Stewart was third at NHIS, behind Bowyer and Gordon, so he's on a bit of a streak, and he won this race from 27th back in 2000.

Like Gordon, Stewart has been good at Dover, leading 1,066 laps in 17 starts, and his average finish of 10.7 is fourth-best in the Chase. He's 10 points out of the lead, and he'll be looking to cut that down some more on Sunday.

Jeff Burton won at Dover last year to take the lead in the Chase standings, outdueling Mark Martin over the final stage to earn the victory. He started 19th in that race; on Sunday, he'll start 36th.

Burton's lap of 23.933 seconds, 150.420 mph puts him back in the field, but that's not a new thing -- his average start is 24.5. His average finish is 17.2, and he'll need better to make up the 91 points he trails the leaders by after NHIS.

Here's an interesting stat: drivers in the Chase have won the last four races at Dover (Truex, Burton, Kenseth and Johnson). In those races, the average margin of victory is 4.04 seconds. The last two, won by Truex and Burton, had margins of victory of 7.355 and 7.955 seconds, respectively, while the previous two, won by Kenseth and Johnson, had margins of .787 and .080 seconds, respectively.

After Bowyer's demolition of the field at NHIS, Sunday's race is going to be either a blowout or a nail-biter.