RICHMOND, VA. –Jimmie Johnson, won the spring race at the 0.75-mile Richmond track. On Friday evening, he won the Budweiser Pole Award for Saturday night's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 with a fast lap of 126.298 mph.

The Bud Pole Award is Johnson's first of the 2007 season, which puts him into the Budweiser Shootout At Daytona in February.

"I figured out how to drive this track when we were here in May and we ended up winning the race," Johnson said. "I felt like we'd be in the top five in qualifying today, but, in general, qualifying is not our strong suit. I got aggressive, the car stuck, and I put up a lap that was a couple of tenths better than the rest of the field to that point. I hit my mark, and now we'll see what happens for 400 laps tomorrow night."

Hendrick Motorsports took the first three positions during Friday's qualifying session. Jeff Gordon, a five-time pole winner at Richmond, qualified second with a lap of 126.342 mph, followed by Kyle Busch.

Ryan Newman qualified fifth, followed by Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, David Ragan, Elliott Sadler and Bobby Labonte.

"Hendrick Motorsports has been very strong at this track with the Car of Tomorrow, and, obviously, by finishing 1-2-3 in qualifying, it showed again," Gordon said. "I'm happy and excited about the fact that we're starting second. I felt like I left something out there. We lost 10 points to Jimmie in The Chase last week, and we'd like to get that back this weekend."

Results

+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie

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