NASCAR Cup Series: Jimmie Johnson takes pole for 2019 O’Reilly Auto Parts 500

Jimmie Johnson took the pole position for the seventh race of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, at Texas Motor Speedway.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson took his first pole position of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season and his first pole position in the last 96 races by taking the pole position for the season’s seventh race, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, at Texas Motor Speedway.

Prior to taking the pole position for this race, Johnson’s most recent pole position was his pole position for the July race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the 2016 season.

Johnson took the pole position for the 334-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) high-banked Texas Motor Speedway oval in Fort Worth, Texas by recording a top lap time of 28.588 seconds (188.890 miles per hour) in his #48 Chevrolet in the third and final round of qualifying for the race.

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Johnson led a top three Chevrolet sweep, specifically a top three Hendrick Motorsports sweep, on the speed chart in this third and final round of qualifying for the race, as William Byron and Chase Elliott qualified in second and third place in their #24 Chevrolet and #9 Chevrolet, respectively.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Daniel Suarez was the highest qualifying Ford driver for the race. He qualified in fourth place in his #41 Ford. Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon qualified in fifth in his #3 Chevrolet. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin was the highest qualifying Toyota driver for the race. He qualified in sixth in his #11 Toyota.

Richard Childress Racing rookie Daniel Hemric, Team Penske’s Joey Logano, Germain Racing’s Ty Dillon and Richard Petty Motorsport’ Darrell Wallace Jr. qualified in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #8 Chevrolet, #22 Ford, #13 Chevrolet and #43 Chevrolet, giving Chevrolet drivers an impressive seven of the top 10 positions on the starting grid for this race.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones and Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski, the slowest two of the 12 drivers who advanced to the third and final round of qualifying for the race, qualified in 11th and 12th place in their #20 Toyota and #2 Ford, respectively.

Here are the full qualifying results for the 2019 O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Qualifying Results
1st – Jimmie Johnson
2nd – William Byron
3rd – Chase Elliott
4th – Daniel Suarez
5th – Austin Dillon
6th – Denny Hamlin
7th – Daniel Hemric
8th – Joey Logano
9th – Ty Dillon
10th – Darrell Wallace Jr.
11th – Erik Jones
12th – Brad Keselowski
13th – Ryan Blaney
14th – Paul Menard
15th – Michael McDowell
16th – Kyle Busch
17th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
18th – Ryan Newman
19th – Chris Buescher
20th – Martin Truex Jr.
21st – Aric Almirola
22nd – Kyle Larson
23rd – Kevin Harvick
24th – Alex Bowman
25th – Clint Bowyer
26th – Matt DiBenedetto
27th – Ryan Preece
28th – David Ragan
29th – Matt Tifft
30th – Kurt Busch
31st – Corey LaJoie
32nd – Landon Cassill
33rd – Parker Kligerman
34th – B.J. McLeod
35th – Ross Chastain
36th – Bayley Currey
37th – Reed Sorenson
38th – Garrett Smithley
39th – Timmy Hill

Fox’s live broadcast of the seventh race of the 36-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, is scheduled to begin from Texas Motor Speedway at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 31.