Jimmie Johnson knew he had a fast car the minute he pulled it onto the track at Martinsville Speedway. The seven-time winner on NASCAR's shortest, trickiest track backed it up in qualifying with a track record. Johnson made his fastest lap around the 0.526-mile oval at 98.400 mph Friday, leading a parade of six drivers who broke Tony Stewart's track record speed of 98.083 mph. It is Johnson's 30th career pole, and third in 23 starts at Martinsville. "That's the icing on the cake," Johnson said when told of the record. "That makes the day even better yet. Track records are hard to come by, so I'm very proud of that and happy to have that." Once he figured out how fast his car was, Johnson said, "I just needed to do my job and not mess up." The pole position is coveted at Martinsville as much as anywhere because pit road is tight, and the spot at the front of pit road gives the driver unencumbered access to the track. It is essentially the automatic stall selection of the pole sitter. Read more http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cu...e-johnson-wins-pole-martinsville-track-record
