Brad Keselowski starts third, Jimmie Johnson 10th

• Joey Logano was also fastest in Friday practice
• Keselowski says he's trying to enjoy the moment
• Johnson laments not being able to apply more pressure

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Though Brad Keselowski needs only a top 15 to clinch the Sprint Cup championship, his team has focused on the Sprint Cup season finale as if he would need to win it.

Friday's Ford EcoBoost 400 qualifying session at Homestead-Miami Speedway proved it.

Keselowski turned a 175.342-mph lap that ranked him third behind Marcos Ambrose and Joey Logano, who will start on the pole position in his final start for Joe Gibbs Racing before joining Keselowski at Penske Racing next year.

"This is what you want to do," said Keselowski, who qualified in the top three for only the second time this season. "I had no expectation of putting on (a lap) that solid. I'm vrery happy and very thankful for that result.

"We really prepared under the impression we'd have to come here and win the race, and the speed in our car is a reflection of that. I'm thankful that showed up, and we'll do the best we can to repeat that throughout the weekend."

Jimmie Johnson, who trails Keselowski by 20 points entering Sunday's race as the only other eligible title contender, will start 10th but remained optimistic about earning his first victory on the 1.5-mile oval.

"Oh yeah," the five-time champion said. "We just worked on qualifying today. What's interesting is a lot of guys who were really fast in race (setup) weren't so good in qualifying. The packages are far different."

Keselowski said that aside from earning a better selection of pit stalls, outqualifying Johnson was "kind of a moot point," noting he won Chicagoland Speedway despite starting 12 positions behind Johnson (who was on the pole).

Johnson, who has been trying to remind Keselowski of the title pressure, lamented not gaining a mental edge Friday. There will be two final practice sessions for an hour and 50 minutes Saturday afternoon before Sunday's 400-miler.

"The best pressure I can put on him is winning the pole," Johnson said. "We didn't do that. We'll go into race (setup) and make sure we've got our race car right."

Keselowski seemed loose Friday, typing furiously on his smartphone while out of his car during practice.

"I'm not going to lie to you and say I've blocked everything out, but I'm enjoying it," he said. "How about that? That's just as important."

He laughed when asked if he felt any pressure.

"Oh man, pressure," he said. "There's always pressure. There was pressure all year long. I don't feel drastically more than I ever had. But the pressure is what makes it worth it. That's part of what makes it special and mean something, so I'm not going to try to run from it, but I can deal with it very well."