CONCORD, N.C. – The Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup will get underway Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the starting grid for the Bank of America 500 is now set.
Thursday night, the cars qualified under the lights, and Jimmie Johnson led his Hendrick Motorsports teammates in the session.
Driving the No. 48 Lowe’s Red Vest Chevrolet SS, Johnson qualified seventh.
Also making the third and final round of qualifying was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will roll the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS off the grid 12th as he continues his Chase run.
"I wish we would've done better in that last round," Earnhardt said. "But we were fast today in practice, fast in the first couple rounds and better than we've been in qualifying in a long time."
Kasey Kahne will be the next Hendrick Motorsports teammate to take the green flag – the No. 5 HendrickRideAlong.com Chevrolet SS will start 20th.
Jeff Gordon’s Contender Round will begin with a 22nd-place start for the No. 24 3M Chevrolet SS at Charlotte.
Matt Kenseth earned the pole position.
Saturday night's race is scheduled for 7 p.m. on NBC.