Johnson

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Jimmie Johnson broke the track qualifying record Friday at Kansas Speedway to take the pole for Sunday's Banquet 400.

Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth, meanwhile, continued his recent struggles and had to rely on a provisional starting position for a second straight week.

Johnson's quick lap of 180.373 mph in a Chevrolet broke the year-old mark of 177.924 mph by Dale Earnhardt Jr. The lap around the 1½-mile tri-oval gave Johnson his second pole of the season.

Seventeen other drivers also broke that record, aided by cool temperatures that hovered in the mid-60s all afternoon.

"A couple of things led to the faster times,'' said Johnson, who has won three times this year but lost his engine and finished 34th last week at Talladega Superspeedway. "The colder weather was one, and all these teams are working harder and harder to find speed.''

When they do, Johnson said, NASCAR will find a way to slow them down.

"It's just a constant game of cat and mouse,'' he said. "It's just finding somewhere new to look. They are tightening up the bodies so much more on us for next year that we're probably going to start off the year a little slower.''

However, Johnson also credited teammate Jeff Gordon for his blistering pole run.

This is the third Winston Cup race at the 1 1/2-mile oval located off I-70. Gordon, who qualified seventh at 179.134 mph, won the first two, and Johnson is ready to use the experience and expertise and translate it into his own ride this weekend.

"I think so. Our setups are very similar," Johnson said. "Mine (may) end up being a little looser than his are. We are very close on setups and his success definitely plays over. Chad Knaus (Johnson's crew chief) is a little more aggressive in some areas and that gives the 24 (Gordon) a direction to go if they are not happy.

"As far as race setup, we know we have a race-winning setup to start with and we just fine-tune it from there. It's a great starting spot."

Kenseth, who leads Kevin Harvick by 354 points and Earnhardt by 384, crashed in practice and turned in a disappointing lap of 175.547 in qualifying.

Last week, he blew an engine and finished 33rd after starting 37th.

"I don't like to see Matt go sliding into the wall, whether it was at the first of the year or now,'' said Earnhardt, who qualified third Friday behind Johnson and Mike Skinner. "Numerically, we're still in the mix, but we don't sit there every week and wait for Matt to blow up or smash into the wall.''

Bobby Labonte qualified fourth as Chevrolets took three of the top four spots. Skinner is in a Pontiac.

After Labonte came Rusty Wallace, Jason Leffler, Jeff Gordon, Bill Elliott, Jeff Green and Elliott Sadler.

"I made a few technical errors with my entry into Turn 3, but I don't know how much difference that would have made,'' said Earnhardt, who went 179.581 said. "Probably not enough to beat Jimmie or Mike, but I was real happy with the lap.''

So was Skinner, who turned in a quick lap of 179.647.

"I wasn't quite good enough to catch Jimmie, so congratulations to him,'' Skinner said. "I'm just happy about our run today.''

Gordon, who won in 2001 and 2002, is trying to become the first Winston Cup driver to win the first three races at a new track.

"We made it better, but just not quite good enough,'' Gordon said. "I got through Turns 1 and 2 pretty good but I just missed a little bit in 3 and 4.''

Michael Waltrip, coming off a victory at Talladega, qualified 31st. Earlier, he won the pole for Saturday's Busch series race.

Sadler's fifth-row start comes a week after a scary crash at Talladega, when his car went flipping down the backstretch after he made contact with Kurt Busch.

Sadler was not injured in the wreck and was back behind the wheel on Tuesday.

"As far as my progress this week, it's been pretty good,'' Sadler said Friday. "I was a little sore Sunday night and I had a pretty good headache. I started feeling a little better Monday, and I went and got some therapy done -- some muscle relaxing and things like that to try to help me recuperate.''

Larry Foyt, who cracked his left wrist in another crash at Talladega, did not qualify on time for Sunday's race and is out of provisionals.

"The biggest thing was taking my left hand out of the equation a little bit,'' Foyt said. "I'm used to pulling a lot with my left arm, so I'm trying to drive more with my right arm. I'm disappointed because this is one of my favorite cars.''

Information from The Associated Press and SportsTicker was used in this report.