"I figured out how to drive this track when we were here in the spring," said Johnson, who outran Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Busch to win here in the spring. Busch qualified third Friday, giving Hendrick the top three spots in the field.
Gordon said it was clear early that Johnson had done something special. He was just the second car to make his run, and typically speeds get better as darkness falls.
Not this time.
Before making his laps, Gordon said he looked at what had happened so far and thought, "He must have put a really good lap down because nobody was close to him."
That includes Earnhardt, who will start 21st - behind both of the drivers he can still knock out of the Chase. No. 11 Kurt Busch will start 14th, No. 12 Kevin Harvick 13th.
"Everybody knows the deal," said Earnhardt, who never made a qualifying run in practice because his team had to change a spindle on his car.
"We'll just have to go run hard and leave it to chance and see what happens to the rest of them guys and watch it and not hit the wall and not blow motors," Earnhardt said. "We just have to run hard and try to be in the top five."
If Earnhardt wins the Chevy 400 on Saturday night and leads the most laps for the biggest possible points haul, Kurt Busch needs to finish 36th or better to clinch a spot in the Chase, and Harvick needs to finish 32nd or better to guarantee his spot.
