Not How The 48 Wanted To Do Darlington

((HT: The State))

Jimmy Johnson said right before his lap, crew chief Chad Knaus' "final words were, 'Go like hell,' and off I went and didn't make it back."

Johnson qualified on owner's points and will start 42nd, his worst opening spot in 11career Cup races at Darlington.

"I hate that happened to Jimmie," Jeff Gordon said. "I know they've got another great car in the truck. They're a championship caliber team. They'll rebound, I'm sure, in a big way."

Kenseth's hopes his fourth career pole - and first since Kansas in October 2005 - leads to a rebound in confidence.

He won the Daytona 500 and then the next week at Auto Club Speedway in Los Angeles. However, he's just one top 10 finish in the past eight races.

Kenseth had felt good during practice, then came an afternoon rain that threatened to wash off much of the grip Sprint Cup drivers had spent the morning laying down.

To Kenseth's surprise, his car held its line and led to the quickest lap in Darlington's 60-season history.

"It's the most confident I've been in my car since, I don't know," Kenseth said.

Here's his run, thanks to NASCAR.com

Ryan Newman qualified third, followed by improving Sam Hornish Jr. and Darlington first-timer Joey Logano.

Defending Darlington champion Kyle Busch, who swept last week's Nationwide and Sprint Cup races at Richmond, will start 14th.

Brad Keselowski made it into his first Cup race since winning Talladega two week ago and starts 31st.

Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Speed failed to make the 43-car field.

Johnson, sixth in the points, had hoped a strong qualifying lap would end a run of bad races. He was 30th at Talladega and 36th a week ago at Richmond.

"Unfortunately, I tore up a race care but we have great backups and we'll be out there tomorrow night," he said. "I'm looking forward to it."

((HT: NASCAR/Speed))