LOUDON, N.H. -- Jimmie Johnson will start on the pole Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career.
The award marks Johnson's 35th career pole position, which comes after a streak of adversity for the No. 48 Lowe's team.
"I knew the car was good," Johnson said. "We had something really weird go on in our mock run. We went back to square one from where we unloaded and the car was fast in all the sessions. We kept progressing, kept our lap count down which was really important. We were able to get into each round and advance to the next on our first lap. It was a trying day for sure but just so proud of this whole race team."
Chase Elliott and Kasey Kahne also made it through to the final round and will start in seventh and 11th, respectively.
"I think our Quicken Loans Chevrolet is close, it's just a matter of doing things right," Kahne said. "We have a decent starting spot and should be a lot better on Sunday."
Alex Bowman, who is filling in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS, did not advance to the final round and will take the green flag in 20th.
Make sure to tune in to the race Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.