Jimmie Johnson has battled a bit more inconsistency than he’d probably like in the 2016 Sprint Cup campaign, but he’ll be starting up front at New Hampshire.
Jimmie Johnson would probably be the first to tell you he’s not having quite as good a 2016 season as he’d like. The six-time Sprint Cup champion has more DNFs (three) than wins (two), and less top 10 finishes than most of the drivers who would be in the Chase if it started today.
Still, he’s going to be in the Case for sure, and he’ll be somewhere he likes to be in Loudon on Sunday: Up front, as Johnson was the fastest in qualifying for the New Hampshire 301.
Johnson earned the Coors Light Pole Award, his first of the season with a speed of 133.971 mph in the third and final qualifying round. That was just enough to edge out Kyle Busch, who will start beside Johnson in his No. 18 Toyota and look to repeat his race win in Loudon from last summer.
Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch will start in Row 2, while Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano ensure that the first three rows are reserved exclusively for currently in the Chase.
Alex Bowman, driving in relief of the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr., will roll off 20th in the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet.
Here are the complete official qualifying results from New Hampshire:
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Kyle Busch | ||||||
| 3 | Martin Truex Jr | ||||||
| 4 | Kurt Busch | ||||||
| 5 | Denny Hamlin | ||||||
| 6 | Joey Logano | ||||||
| 7 | Chase Elliott | ||||||
| 8 | Kevin Harvick | ||||||
| 9 | Brad Keselowski | ||||||
| 10 | AJ Allmendinger | ||||||
| 11 | Kasey Kahne | ||||||
| 12 | Tony Stewart | ||||||
| 13 | Carl Edwards | ||||||
| 14 | Ryan Blaney | ||||||
| 15 | Austin Dillon | ||||||
| 16 | Matt DiBenedetto | ||||||
| 17 | Kyle Larson | ||||||
| 18 | Matt Kenseth | ||||||
| 19 | Jamie McMurray | ||||||
| 20 | Alex Bowman | ||||||
| 21 | Casey Mears | ||||||
| 22 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | ||||||
| 23 | David Ragan | ||||||
| 24 | Paul Menard | ||||||
| 25 | Ryan Newman | ||||||
| 26 | Aric Almirola | ||||||
| 27 | Michael McDowell | ||||||
| 28 | Greg Biffle | ||||||
| 29 | Danica Patrick | ||||||
| 30 | Landon Cassill | ||||||
| 31 | Trevor Bayne | ||||||
| 32 | Clint Bowyer | ||||||
| 33 | Brian Scott | ||||||
| 34 | Regan Smith | ||||||
| 35 | Chris Buescher | ||||||
| 36 | Reed Sorensen | ||||||
| 37 | Michael Annett | ||||||
| 38 | Eddie MacDonald | ||||||
| 39 | Josh Wise | ||||||
| 40 | Ryan Ellis |
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