DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Jimmie Johnson is off to a good start in his quest to win a third-straight championship.
On Sunday, Johnson began the defense of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship by capturing the pole for the 50th running of the Daytona 500.
Johnson won his second Daytona 500 pole with a fast lap of 187.075 miles per hour during Sunday’s qualification session. He also won the pole as a rookie in 2002.
“It’s great. I’m so proud of this race team because a lot goes into it,” Johnson said. “Everything aligned just right; we got great speed out of the car.”
Johnson will start alongside Toyota driver Michael Waltrip for next Sunday’s race. Waltrip qualified at 186.734 mph.
Waltrip was the center of controversy after last year’s Daytona qualification session when an illegal additive was discovered in his fuel. He was able to race his way into the 2007 Daytona field through one of the Gatorade Duels at Daytona qualifying races.
This year, he appears to have it made as only the top two cars are guaranteed their starting positions in the race. The remainder of the lineup will be determined by Thursday’s qualification races.
The top 35 in points from last season are locked into the race. Two of the non-qualified drivers will advance into the starting lineup from each of the two 150-mile duels.
Three more will be added to the lineup based on speeds from Sunday’s session with a 43rd starting position reserved for a past Cup series champion.
Those three drivers that are first on the list of being locked in include Joe Nemechek, who was third fastest in a Chevrolet at 186.498 mph, Toyota driver David Reutimann at 186.483 mph and Boris Said, ninth quickest at 185.947 mph in a Ford, but next in line in the “go or go home” group.
Johnson scored his 14th career Cup pole and can spend Thursday’s first Gatorade Daytona Duels qualifying race fine-tuning his race car for next Sunday’s Daytona 500.
“It puts us in a great situation where we don’t have to have a lot of risks,” Johnson said of Thursday’s 150-mile qualifier. “We are one of the favorites, but until we get into traffic, we won’t know. Handling is going to be a premium.
“It’s real exciting to see everything over the off-season come together. To see that come together, it was a strong run off the truck. It says a lot for the team and the preparation. We didn’t lose anything over the off season.”
For the second day in a row, team owner Rick Hendrick had something to celebrate. He was in victory lane Saturday night after his newest driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., won the Budweiser Shootout.
On Sunday, it was Johnson’s turn to bring some glory to the team owner.
“It’s always neat to get down here and get a win, but the pole is something the guys work for all winter long,” Hendrick said. “Winter testing was good but Chad Knaus (crew chief) and the guys put a lot of work on it. To know you are going to be in the Daytona race on the front row is good.”
Sunday’s qualifications set the starting lineups for Thursday’s two races. Johnson starts the first race on the pole followed by Nemechek, who was the surprise in qualifying by driving for the one-car Furniture Row team based in Colorado, far from the North Carolina hub of Sprint Cup racing.
Hendrick driver Casey Mears starts third in the first race, followed by Said and Earnhardt in the 27-car race.
Waltrip starts on the pole of the second Duel, followed by Reutimann, Dave Blaney, Travis Kvapil and Denny Hamlin. That race has 26 starters.
Nemechek, who was once known as “Front Row Joe” for his penchant at starting on the front row in the 1990s, gave hope to the little teams in the lineup.
“Awesome day,” he said. “Anybody not locked in the top 35, this is an awesome day. To end up third, that is what we are sitting around here talking about.”

Gatorade Duel Lineups

Race One

Driver     Make    Speed
1. Jimmie Johnson    Chevrolet    187.075
2. Joe Nemechek    Chevrolet    186.498
3. Casey Mears    Chevrolet    186.054
4. Boris Said    Ford    185.893
5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.    Chevrolet    185.479
6. Brian Vickers    Toyota    185.475
7.  A.J. Allmendinger    Toyota    185.422
8. Scott Riggs    Chevrolet    185.193
9. Ryan Newman    Dodge    185.143
10. Regan Smith    Chevrolet    184.964
11. Kenny Wallace    Chevrolet    184.953
12. Jeremy Mayfield    Chevrolet    184.612
13. Kurt Busch    Dodge    184.540
14. Elliott Sadler    Dodge    184.521
15. Carl Edwards    Ford    184.487
16. Paul Menard    Chevrolet    184.415
17. Martin Truex, Jr.    Chevrolet    184.290
18. Reed Sorenson    Dodge    184.264
19. Juan Pablo Montoya    Dodge    184.241
20. Sam Hornish, Jr.    Dodge    184.226
21. Clint Bowyer    Chevrolet    184.106
22. Bill Elliott    Ford    184.090
23. Bobby Labonte    Dodge    183.857
24. Kyle Petty    Dodge    183.374
25. Sterling Marlin    Chevrolet    183.326
26. J.J. Yeley    Toyota    182.994
27. Carl Long    Dodge    180.796

Race Two

Driver     Make    Speed
1. Michael Waltrip    Toyota    186.734
2. David Reutimann    Toyota    186.463
3. Dave Blaney    Toyota    186.120
4. Travis Kvapil    Ford    185.958
5. Denny Hamlin    Toyota    185.947
6. Jeff Gordon    Chevrolet    185.858
7. Patrick Carpentier    Dodge    185.766
8. Tony Stewart    Toyota    185.651
9. David Ragan    Ford    185.594
10. Matt Kenseth    Ford    185.517
11. Jacques Villeneuve    Toyota    185.452
12. Mark Martin    Chevrolet    185.429
13. David Gilliland    Ford    185.410
14. Dale Jarrett    Toyota    185.345
15. Greg Biffle    Ford    185.071
16. Jamie McMurray    Ford    185.010
17. Robby Gordon    Dodge    184.850
18. Kasey Kahne    Dodge    184.828
19. Eric McClure    Chevrolet    184.828
20. Kyle Busch    Toyota    184.809
21. Kevin Harvick    Chevrolet    184.589
22. Ken Schrader    Dodge    184.483
23. Dario Franchitti    Dodge    184.351
24. Jeff Burton    Chevrolet    183.884
25. John Andretti    Chevrolet    183.673
26. Stanton Barrett    Chevrolet    182.823