Kasey Kahne Wins Pole for NASCAR Finale, Jimmie Johnson Leads Contenders

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Kasey Kahne won the pole position for Sunday's Ford 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, while four-time defending Cup champ Jimmie Johnson's sixth-place effort was best of the three drivers vying for the season championship.

Kahne's No. 83 Red Bull Toyota turned a lap of 176.904 mph around the 1.5-mile oval, bettering Carl Edwards' Ford and Jamie McMurray's Chevrolet. (Kahne is shown at right checking times during qualifying).

But as significant as who will be starting up front is who won't be. Championship points leader Denny Hamlin, who holds a tenuous 15-point edge over Johnson, will start 37th in the 43-car field. Kevin Harvick, who trails Hamlin by 46 points, will roll off 28th.

"It was tough ... but our car is gonna be fine tomorrow,'' Hamlin said. "We know that. This is a track you can pass (at). We're looking forward to that part of it. Friday has just never been our strong suit and so we gotta battle back again."

Harvick, who has started better then 20th only one time since August, didn't appear overly concerned with his starting position. He finished third at Martinsville, Va., last month after starting 36th and was runner-up at Las Vegas despite starting 34th.

"I thought we might have been a little better, but not much,'' said Harvick, who drives the No.. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevy. "Everybody on the car did a really good job. ... We've been talking about where we want to pit here, the same thing we do every week.

"Our car was very comfortable in race trim and we are ready to go.''

Hamlin and Harvick were 30th and 31st quickest in practice, respectively, while Johnson turned the third-fastest practice lap.

So for Johnson, qualifying was a big relief. He's only had three top-10 starts at Homestead in nine previous races here and will be taking the green flag from the third row, compared to the 14th row for Harvick and the 19th row for Hamlin.

"That was definitely a good lap for us,'' said Johnson.

"We came down really well organized with scenarios we wanted to work with on the car if the handling went a certain way and stuff worked as we had hoped, which was nice to see.
"I'll say this, if he (Johnson) keeps bringing up my name, he's pretty much worried about me. That's all I'll say."
-- Denny Hamlin
"I'm excited about how we'll start the race and then I'm also looking forward to practice tomorrow. There's some work to do there and we'll get on top of things and have some fun.''

Earlier in the day, Johnson used his weekly press conference to continue to poke at Hamlin, suggesting the new points leader probably didn't sleep so well with all the pressure he's under.

"Frankly, since this is my last press conference, I'll say this, if he (Johnson) keeps bringing up my name, he's pretty much worried about me,'' Hamlin responded. "That's all I'll say. You're not gonna say you're not worried and that you are relaxed and everything, but keep bringing up my name.''

The biggest smile of qualifying belonged to Kahne, who scored his first pole since moving to Red Bull Racing five races ago. Kahne, who revealed he was having off-season surgery on both knees next Tuesday, was appreciative of the turn in fortunes, considering the tumultuous season he's endured.

This spring he announced that he would be leaving Richard Petty Motorsports for Hendrick Motorsports in 2012 and on Aug. 10 announced he would drive for Red Bull for the 2011 season. A frustrating and counterproductive fall at RPM abruptly ended his tenure with the team in October and the two agreed to go their separate ways.

"This is a good way to start things off with Red Bull,'' said Kahne. "This season has had a lot of ups and downs, I'm looking forward to next season not having so many stressful, unexpected changes. This season has been difficult for a number of reasons and I'm glad we got through it.

"It will just be nice to have it behind us.''