Johnson leads Hendrick sweep of Cup qualifying

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Richmond, VA (Sports Network) - Defending series champion Jimmie Johnson captured the pole for Saturday night's Nextel Cup "regular" season finale at the Richmond International Raceway. The No.48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver will start on the pole for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 after circling the 0.750-mile oval in 21.378 seconds (126.298 m.p.h.).

The pole victory was Johnson's first of the season and 10th of his Nextel Cup career.

"I knew it felt good, I'm just happy that it turned out that way," said Johnson, who is coming off a win at the California Speedway last Sunday night.

Starting alongside Johnson will be his teammate and series points leader Jeff Gordon, who posted a time of 21.541 seconds.

Another Hendrick Chevy, driven by Kyle Busch (21.543) and Ryan Newman (21.557) will make up row two.

Three drivers are vying for the final two places in the "Chase for the Nextel Cup" which begins next week at the New Hampshire International Speedway. The three drivers are Kevin Harvick (starting 13th), Kurt Busch (starting 14th) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (starting 21st).

For Earnhardt Jr., the best scenario involves him leading the most laps (10 point bonus) and winning the race to earn the maximum points - 195. If he does all that, he will still need Kevin Harvick to finish 33rd or worse or Kurt Busch to finish 37th or worse.

After the 12 competitors for the "Chase" are determined this week, the series will rank the "Chase" drivers based on their number of wins in the first 26 weeks.

Johnson, who has five wins this season, will start the 10-race "Chase" with 5050 points, or 5060 if he wins Saturday night's race. He will have the most points at the start although if his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Gordon wins at Richmond they will both start with the same amount of points. The least points any driver can start with in the "Chase" is 5000 points. Drivers accumulate points under the same point structure as in the regular season and after 10 races the 2007 Nextel Cup champion will be determined.

Saturday night's race is set to drop the green flag at 7:30 p.m. (et).

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