Johnson earns first Bristol pole, bettering Edwards

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Qualifying hasn't been an issue for Jimmie Johnson lately.

Finishing races has.

In Saturday's Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Johnson will get another chance to convert a top-notch starting position into a strong finish -- something he hasn't been able to do in the past six races.

Irwin Tools Night Race

Lineup

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
2.	Carl Edwards	Ford
3.	Joey Logano	Toyota
4.	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet
5.	David Reutimann	Toyota

Complete Lineup | Practice 2

In Friday's qualifying session, Johnson streaked around the .533-mile short track in his No. 48 Chevrolet to claim his first Coors Light Pole Award at Bristol and his first of the season in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series. The pole was Johnson's 24th in the Cup series.

Moments after Carl Edwards ran a lap in 15.608 seconds (122.937 mph) in the high groove, Johnson knocked him off the pole with a lap of 15.540 seconds (123.475 mph), running the bottom of the track. Edwards' speed held up for second, barely ahead of third-place qualifier Joey Logano (122.764 mph).

"We spent a lot of time focused on the bottom of the race track," said Johnson, who has averaged a 3.8 starting position over the past six races compared with a 21.3 average finish. "There was a lot of questioning and concern in my mind. I went on top of the transporter and watched all the guys go, and nobody made the bottom work until late, when the 20 [Logano] went out.

"That gave me hope, but we really couldn't change directions at that point, because we'd set the car up to run the bottom for qualifying and felt like it would be foolish to change things."

When Edwards saw Johnson running the bottom of the track, Edwards was convinced he was the pole winner.

"I couldn't believe Jimmie got the pole running the bottom," Edwards said. "I thought the top was faster. When I was watching his lap on the big screen, I thought, 'Oh, he's on the bottom; he's screwed this up.' And, lo and behold, he ran a really fast lap."

Tony Stewart will start fourth, followed by David Reutimann, who missed most of Friday's opening practice with flu-like symptoms but returned to claim his third top-five start of the season.

Johnson said his inability to capitalize on excellent qualifying efforts has been most glaring at intermediate speedways.

"If you look at the mile-and-a-half race tracks and above, I don't think, in the summer months, we have had the package we need," Johnson said. "I can burn off a fast lap, I can be fast in practice session, I can be fast in a qualifying effort, but when we get into the heart of the race -- in a long run or a series of long runs -- we seem to fade.

"We have time to figure some stuff out, and we have some good ideas."

In the race for the final spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, 13th-place Mark Martin qualified 13th, and 12th-place Clint Bowyer will start 24th. Martin trails Bowyer by 35 points with three races left before the Chase field is set.

Dave Blaney, Joe Nemechek, Kevin Lepage, J.J. Yeley, Brian Keselowski and Mike Bliss failed to qualify for the 43-car field. Series points leader Kevin Harvick will start 28th.