Chicagoland qualifying: Johnson, Gordon in top six

JOLIET, Ill. (July 9, 2010) – Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon will start inside the top six for Saturday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Chicagoland Speedway. Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, scored the outside pole position during Friday’s qualifying session. While he never has started second at Chicagoland, Johnson has an average start of 8.5 and owns five top-five finishes in eight starts there. Gordon will line up his No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet sixth. Gordon will be making his 600th Cup start in Saturday’s race, and he has one win, five top-five finishes and six top-10s in his previous nine starts at the racetrack. Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, will start 21st while his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. will roll off the grid 25th in his No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet. Martin enters the race as the defending winner. Saturday’s race starts at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by TNT.