11/07/2008 - Avondale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmie Johnson continued his winning ways at the Phoenix International Raceway by capturing the pole for Sunday's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500. The No.48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver and two-time defending series champion turned in a fast lap at the one-mile track in 26.721 seconds (134.725 m.p.h.).
The pole victory was Johnson's sixth of the season and the 19th of his Sprint Cup career.
Johnson has won the last two races at Phoenix, and is looking to become the first driver to win three in a row there.
"I think track position here is important," Johnson said. "This is really a sprint race with 300 laps, and keeping track position is very important. We had a fast car, but lost some track position due to fuel strategy in the spring race, and had to take a chance on going the distance in fuel to get the race won. Hopefully we can keep the track position all night long this time."
Johnson currently holds a 106-point lead over Carl Edwards with two races remaining in the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship. Edwards qualified 15th.
Starting alongside Johnson will be Jamie McMurray, who posted the second fast time of 26.741 seconds.
"We unload good and we were good in race trim earlier," McMurray said. "The car drove really good, but I just fought the grip, and I can't believe how bad the sun was in turn one. I way over drove that corner."
McMurray finished a season-best third last weekend at Texas.
Kurt Busch (26.760) and David Reutimann (26.763) will start on the second row.
The remainder of the "Chase" field will start in the following order: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (fifth), Jeff Gordon (seventh), Denny Hamlin (eighth), Kyle Busch (14th), Kevin Harvick (19th), Jeff Burton (24th), Clint Bowyer (28th), Tony Stewart (29th), Greg Biffle (31st) and Matt Kenseth (34th).
Joe Nemechek was the only driver who did not qualify.
Last Sunday, Edwards became the first driver to score three Cup victories at Texas, and it also marked the fourth consecutive time the fall race winner at Atlanta also won the following week at Texas. Edwards began the streak in 2005, with Tony Stewart doing it in 2006 and Johnson accomplishing it last year.
An Edwards comeback is within the realm of possibility as he heads to Phoenix with a lot of momentum.
In 1992, Alan Kulwicki trailed leader Bill Elliott by 85 points with two races remaining, but Kulwicki's fourth-place finish compared to a 31st-place run for Elliott at Phoenix allowed Kulwicki to take a 10-point lead into the season- finale at Atlanta. He finished the year with the same point-margin over Elliott, making it one of the closest championship battles in the sport's history.
Edwards has yet to win at Phoenix but finished fourth twice. He finished 42nd there one year ago.
Meanwhile, Johnson could possibly clinch his record-tying third-consecutive Cup championship one race early, but doing so at Phoenix would be difficult.
Johnson would have to gain 90 points on Edwards and 52 on third-place Greg Biffle for a 196-point lead in order to clinch at Phoenix.
If Johnson heads to Homestead with a 162-point advantage, he would just simply need to start the season-finale to capture the championship.
Johnson will win the title if he finishes seventh or better in the last two races, regardless of any other driver's performance.
The green flag is scheduled to drop Sunday around 3:45 p.m. (et).
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