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Johnson To Start On Pole

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 17, 2007

HOMESTEAD - When it's going your way, it's going your way.

Jimmie Johnson came to the Ford 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway boasting a four-race win streak and a comfortable 86-point edge in the championship.

On Friday, he earned the pole position for Sunday's race, blazing a lap of 176.788 mph around the 1.5-mile track and confirming the fears of his competitors - he won't be easing into a title, he'll be full throttle.

"I can't believe it, either," a grinning Johnson told reporters on pit road immediately after climbing out of his No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet.

Then Johnson quickly explained how he still expected Kasey Kahne to out-qualify him based on practice speeds from earlier in the day. Kahne had been quickest, Johnson only seventh on the speed charts.

"When I saw Kasey's lap go up third-fastest I was real happy. It got the guys on the team real charged up," Johnson said.

It's an emotion they should get in touch with. Johnson needs to finish only 18th or better Sunday to outduel Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon for a second consecutive Nextel Cup title. He has finished out of the top 15 only once in the past 15 races and scored six of his season-best 10 wins since Labor Day.

And if Johnson was surprised by Friday's qualifying performance, he was the only one.

"I'm not surprised by anything they do," outside polesitter Ryan Newman said. "He's a great driver. He's beyond being on a roll. He's got everything going his way."

Kahne, who like Newman is trying to salvage a winless season, will start third, with Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch rounding out the top five.

Gordon earned an 11th-place starting position and did not speak with reporters after his qualifying attempt.

While Johnson's effort is encouraging, he is uncomfortable with the idea that he has a lock on the championship.

"It's a check off the list for Friday and certainly a good start for us," Johnson said. "But tomorrow's a whole new day and that's when we'll starting working on race trim and getting it ready for race day.

"Starting on the pole I should have all the confidence in the world, but there's a little trigger in my head that doesn't let my guard down. If I feel comfortable and think I have it under control, it bites me, so I try not to let that in my head."

UP AND DOWN: Zephyrhills' David Reutimann made it into Sunday's field with a 35th-place qualifying effort, while Lakeland's Joe Nemechek failed to make the race.

It was the fourth time Nemechek missed the qualifying cut and, conversely, the second time in the past four races Reutimann did qualify.

CAR OF YESTERDAY: With the new Car of Tomorrow being used full-time in 2008, it raised the question of what to do with all the old cars used during the past few years.

"I honestly don't know what's going to happen to all our cars, but I can tell you one thing, you'll see a heck of an ARCA series next year," Nextel Cup owner Ray Evernham said, referring to the developmental stock car series.

Some drivers have purchased cars to display at home or in the shop. Busch is restoring the car in which he won his first Cup race. Johnson said he's putting in a request with his team owner, Rick Hendrick, to keep the Chevy he's driving this weekend, "for sentimental reasons."

LAST CHANCE: Gordon has all but conceded his shot at catching Johnson for the Nextel Cup championship, but recently crowned NHRA Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher still wanted to offer his encouragement.

Schumacher has staged dramatic come-from-behind triumphs to claim the past two Top Fuel titles by virtue of winning the last race of the season on the last pass of the event. Schumacher, the four-time champion driver of the U.S. Army dragster, said he planned to speak with Gordon.

"Last year when I had to set a national record on the last pass to win the championship, I wondered how I could top that. Then I did," he said.

"One of my favorite sayings is that great moments are born in great opportunities. And that's what he has. And trust me, Jeff's popularity just increased because he's a long shot and people love long shots."

NEW LOOK: Juan Pablo Montoya's No. 42 Dodge will sport a new look in 2008. Chip Ganassi Racing unveiled a new sponsor plan that will split the 36-race Sprint Cup season evenly between Texaco Havoline and Wrigley's gum.

Holly Cain

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