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Jamie McMurray claimed his third pole of the season with a strong run at Chicagoland Speedway.McMurray claims pole at Chicagoland, third in '10
EGR driver bests new dad Johnson for top starting spot
By Sporting News Wire Service
July 9, 2010
10:30 PM EDT
July 9, 2010
10:30 PM EDT
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JOLIET, Ill. -- In one season, Jamie McMurray has doubled the number of his pole awards in the Cup Series.
He picked up his third of the season and the sixth of his career Friday at Chicagoland Speedway, where he sped around the 1.5-mile track in 29.421 seconds (183.542 mph) to edge four-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson (183.281) for the pole by .042 seconds.
McMurray will start from the top spot in Saturday night's LifeLock.com 400, the 19th Cup race of the season. Tony Stewart (182.877) qualified third, followed by Greg Biffle (182.673) and Sam Hornish Jr. (182.605).
Chicagoland
Race Lineup
| Pos. | Driver | Speed | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | J. McMurray | 183.542 | 29.421 |
| 2. | J. Johnson | 183.281 | 29.463 |
| 3. | T. Stewart | 182.877 | 29.528 |
| 4. | G. Biffle | 182.673 | 29.561 |
| 5. | S. Hornish Jr. | 182.605 | 29.572 |
Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard and Juan Montoya will start the race from positions six through 10, respectively.
McMurray, the Daytona 500 winner, is 19th in the Cup standings and a long shot to qualify for the Chase, but it's not for lack of speed this season.
"The speed is the hardest thing to find, and I think that we'll be fine [Saturday] night," McMurray said. "We have the same car that we sat on the pole with at Darlington and ran second with. Just having that No. 1 pit stall is a big deal. Pit stops are so critical in keeping your track position that I think that will benefit us a little [Saturday] night."
Johnson claimed the second spot despite driving on six hours' sleep. His wife, Chandra, gave birth to their first child, a girl, on Wednesday.
"I did everything I could to put my head in the game," Johnson said. "I came up here and had a great practice session, and I feel like we've got a very competitive car for the race. I haven't qualified very well lately, so maybe six hours of sleep before qualifying is necessary over a couple of days to find the right rhythm and feel for qualifying."
Stewart, who has won twice at Chicagoland, picked up a half-second from his practice time earlier in the day.
"I'll take it," he said. "It wasn't a pretty lap, but it was fast. It gave us a good starting spot for tomorrow night and hopefully [will] get us another top-five, maybe a win here."
Michael McDowell, Dave Blaney, J.J. Yeley and Todd Bodine failed to qualify for the 43-car field.
Notes-n-Nuggets
| • Jamie McMurray claimed his third pole of the season; he had only three Cup Series poles in seven full-time seasons entering the 2010 season. |
| • This was McMurray's first Cup Series pole in his eighth start, and he is the ninth different Chicagoland pole winner in nine races there with time trials. |
| • Chevrolet claimed its eighth Cup Series pole of 2010, the most of any manufacturer, and it was the company's eighth Cup Chicagoland pole, the most of all makes. |
| • Jimmie Johnson (second) starts on the front row for the third time in the past four races. |
| • Tony Stewart (third) starts in the top 10 for the fourth time in the past six races; Stewart and Harvick lead all drivers with two Cup Series Chicagoland wins. |
| • Greg Biffle (fourth) has his best Chicagoland starting position in eight Cup starts. |
| • Sam Hornish Jr (fifth) starts in the top 10 for the second time in the past three races. |
| • Bobby Labonte (20th) was the fastest of the 12 go-or-go-home drivers |
| • Points leader Kevin Harvick qualified 27th. |
| • Four drivers failed to make the race: Michael McDowell, Dave Blaney, JJ Yeley, and Todd Bodine. |
| • Only three of the nine Cup Chicagoland races were won from a top-10 starting position. |
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