LOUDON, New Hampshire — Jimmie Johnson gave Hendrick Motorsports a needed bright spot, turning a lap of 133.971 mph (215.6 kph) at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to win his first pole of the season Friday.
Johnson, a two-time race winner this season, could use a boost following a five-race slump where he failed to finish better than 13th. He crashed out of his last two races, finished 35th at Daytona International Speedway and 32nd last weekend at Kentucky Speedway.
He was the lone Hendrick Motorsports driver in the top five.
Hendrick suffered a blow this week when Dale Earnhardt Jr. dropped out of Sunday’s race because he suffered from symptoms of a concussion. Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon will drive the No. 88 Chevrolet next week at Indianapolis if Earnhardt is not cleared to return.
Alex Bowman, making his first Sprint Cup start of the season, qualified 20th subbing for Earnhardt.
Johnson, Earnhardt, Kasey Kahne and Chase Elliott have all contributed to Hendrick Motorsports’ losing drought over the last 13 races. Johnson’s win in Fontana, California, on March 20 was the last for a Hendrick driver.
Kyle Busch was second, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin.
“The car wasn’t driving as well as I would have liked it to drive for qualifying,” Busch said. “But good speed, that’s what matters right now and being able to put up a good lap like that.”
Newgarden set for Toronto Indy title defense
It hasn’t always been good times and checkered flags for IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden.
The defending Honda Indy Toronto champion overcome low points during his 2012 rookie season when he started 14 races and only led for one lap the entire year. He didn’t have a teammate, was dealing with a new car and was part of a small team.
The 25-year-old driver said things really started clicking in 2014 and continued into last year when he captured the Indy Toronto.
“You learn the ups and downs,” he said. “You learn the emotional roller coaster of racing.”
Newgarden enters this weekend’s race on the streets surrounding Exhibition Place as a favorite. He’s not only the defending champion but is coming off a win last week in the Iowa Corn 300, where he led for 282 of 300 laps.
The Hendersonville, Tennessee, driver is second in the standings with 336 points, behind France’s Simon Pagenaud.
Newgarden, who competes for Ed Carpenter Racing, was 16th after the first day of practice Friday, finishing in 1 minute, 2.7942 seconds. Pagenaud was fastest in 1:01.7081, with Team Penske teammates Helio Castroneves second (1:01.9091) and Will Power third (1:02.0573).
