Johnson struggles in qualifying; Kyle Busch sets record

• Points leader Jimmie Johnson will start 24th after winning from pole at last two races
• Busch won with a lap of 138.766 mph, eclipsing the previous mark of 137.279 set by Carl Edwards.
• Brad Keselowski, who trails Johnson by seven points, will start 14th

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Kyle Busch won his second pole of the season Friday with a track-record lap, while Sprint Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson had one of his worst qualifying performances of the season.

Johnson will start 24th in Sunday's AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Busch won the pole with a lap of 138.766 mph, eclipsing the previous mark of 137.279 set by Carl Edwards in February 2011.

Johnson, who won the past two Cup races from the pole, has started worse only twice this year with a 27th at Richmond International Raceway in April and 37th at Bristol Motor Speedway in August.

Brad Keselowski, who trails Johnson by seven points in the Chase, qualified 14th. It's the first time since the Sept. 30 race at Dover International Speedway that Keselowski will start ahead of Johnson.

"It doesn't hurt,'' Keselowski said, "but I wouldn't say it matters."

While not common, Johnson has often excelled from poor starting spots at Phoenix. Three of the previous four times Johnson started outside the top 20 at this 1-mile track, he finished in the top five.

Still, Johnson said, there are challenges in the 312-mile race.

"It's a short race so it's hard to have certain aspects, lots of pit stops to work on the car and make it better or lots of opportunities on pit road with a good pit crew to improve your position,'' he said. "That's probably the toughest thing starting back.''

Keselowski said there's plenty of time to get from the back to the front with this race even thought it's shorter than many Cup races. He admits that passing is challenging "but no more so than Martinsville and those places and I think we saw Denny Hamlin go to the back twice and drive to the front and that was supposed to be a place you couldn't pass, so if you're good, you find a way.''

The top four qualifiers -- Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Hamlin and Kasey Kahne -- exceeded the previous track record.

Busch's run continued his late-season surge. He's finished seventh or better in five of the last six races. The pole marks the fourth consecutive race he's qualified fourth or better.

"We've shown speed this year,'' Busch said. "We've shown that we can run up front, we just haven't shown the consistency based off our finishes. We have bad luck just keep hitting us. Sometimes you can't do anything about those things.''