BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Jimmie Johnson will lead his teammates to the green flag Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
He and teammate Kasey Kahne both made the final round of qualifying Friday at the track, and he came away with a sixth-place starting position.
Kahne will roll off the grid just outside of the top 10 in 11th.
“I’m excited about how comfortable the car has been, the speed that we have had in it," Johnson said. "Practice sessions can be quite frustrating for us here and qualifying sessions. To be off to a good, calm, smooth, fast start is really good for us.”
All four Hendrick Motorsports teammates advanced to round two of qualifying, but Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not make the cut for the final round.
They will start side-by-side in 19th and 20th, respectively.
Earnhardt said the biggest challenge was "just how much the track tightened up" from the practice session earlier in the day.
Elliott, meanwhile, said his improvement will lie in "getting off the corner a little better."
"We'll keep working at it and try to get our car a little better tomorrow afternoon," the rookie said.
Carl Edwards took home the pole position for Sunday's race.