Jimmie John-son couldn't have asked for a better start to the weekend.
Johnson turned a lap at 97.598 m.p.h. to win the pole for today's Tums 500 at Martinsville Speedway, his third pole of the season and 28th of his career.
The first choice of pit stalls will be helpful for Johnson. Even more of a potential help was the poor qualifying effort by Sprint Cup Series points leader Brad Keselowski, who will start 32nd.
Keselowski leads Johnson by seven points with four races remaining.
"We just hit it today - from my standpoint and the car's standpoint," Johnson said. "A few thousandths of a second can make the difference of several spots.
"In qualifying trim you drive the car as hard as you can. When you get into race trim, you can't run the brakes that hard. It's a tough compromise."
Johnson said he can't expect Keselowski to have a bad day even with their difficult starting position.
Brian Vickers qualified second, Kyle Busch third, Jeff Burton fourth and Denny Hamlin fifth.
