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Two In A Row, Johnson Takes Kansas Pole

Jimmie Johnson won the pole for the LifeLock 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup race to be run at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 30th. The pole position was Johnson?s second in a row, third of 2007, and sixteenth of his NASCAR Nextel Cup career. Johnson turned a lap around the 1.5 mile speedway in 30.846 seconds at a speed of 175.063 mph, well off of Matt Kenseth’s track record of 180.856 mph set in 2005.

With most drivers turning laps a tick slower than they did in practice, those that were able to find a bit more speed moved to the top of the chart. Michael Waltrip was one of those drivers to improve on earlier practice times and placed himself twelfth on the grid for Sunday?s race. Waltrip was the fastest Toyota and Scott Riggs was the fastest of the go-or-go-home drivers, qualifying fourth.

Chevrolet dominated qualifying taking six of the top ten positions. Ryan Newman?s Dodge and Matt Kenseth?s Ford placed second and third respectively to breakup the bowtie brigade. Current point leader, Jeff Gordon, qualified fifth followed by Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Greg Biffle will start eighth with Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. rounding out the top ten.

Among the other ?Chase? contenders, Clint Bowyer will start eleventh, Kurt Busch – thirteenth, Kevin Harvick ? eighteenth, Tony Stewart – twentieth, Carl Edwards ? twenty-eighth, and Jeff Burton ? thirty-sixth.

Drivers failing to qualify for the race include: AJ Allmendinger, Ward Burton, Brian Vickers and Jon Wood.

Robby Gordon blew his engine during practice and will start from the back of the pack due to the engine change.

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