Title drivers will start inside top 15 for Chase finale

Brant James

USA TODAY Sports

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — They have to be cognizant of each other all race on Sunday, anyway, so at least they won’t have to look very far for updates. At least not at the start.

Kyle Busch was the top qualifier among the four title-eligible drivers in ninth place.

"Let’s all be in a wad there together. Let’s party," six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson said on Friday after all four drivers eligible for the Sprint Cup championship qualified within five spots of each other at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Defending series champion Kyle Busch will start ninth, Carl Edwards 10th, Joey Logano 13th and Johnson 14th.

The highest-finishing driver in that group will win the championship.

Jimmie Johnson could join Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty in exclusive club

"As I told Jimmie, we all suck," Logano said, joking but frustrated at not starting higher.

Kevin Harvick won the pole, while brad Keselowski will start second.

Logano was fastest among title-eligible drivers in the first practice on Friday. He was bumped from a chance to advance to the third round and vie for the pole by three-time champion Tony Stewart, who will race for the last time in Sprint Cup on Sunday.

The first round was unusually frantic for Jimmie Johnson, who required a last-minute qualifying attempt to jump from 29th to 22nd and into the 24-driver group to advance to the second round. Johnson crew chief Chad Knaus had ordered Johnson out for his second run with one minute, 40 seconds left in the round, but a red flag caused by a Landon Cassill spin halted the clock with roughly 57 seconds left. Johnson’s crew was able to cool the car and tires sufficiently for him to nudge into 22nd with a strong run through Turns 3 and 4.

Johnson had gone out early in the first round but speed spiked behind him as the track cooled, putting him in the late predicament. The six-time series champion had not failed to advance to the second round in knockout qualifying this season.

Logano was fourth in the first round, followed by Edwards (sixth) and Busch (17th).

Follow Brant James on Twitter @brantjames.

GALLERY: Best of the Chase for the Sprint Cup

FULL LINEUP: Ford EcoBoost 400

1. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 177.637 mph.
2. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 177.538.
3. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 177.387.
4. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 177.194.
5. (24) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 177.096.
6. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 176.974.
7. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 176.505.
8. (21) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 176.413.
9. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 175.959.
10. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 175.615.
11. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 174.978.
12. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 174.831.
13. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 176.638.
14. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 176.269.
15. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 176.263.
16. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 176.246.
17. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 176.120.
18. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 175.965.
19. (88) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 175.655.
20. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 175.536.
21. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 175.018.
22. (44) Brian Scott, Ford, 174.984.
23. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 174.972.
24. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 173.756.
25. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 175.092.
26. (59) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 174.972.
27. (34) Chris Buescher, Ford, 174.967.
28. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 174.893.
29. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 174.695.
30. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 174.667.
31. (49) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 174.306.
32. (38) Landon Cassill, Ford, 174.025.
33. (15) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 173.952.
34. (95) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 173.796.
35. (7) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 173.706.
36. (23) David Ragan, Toyota, 172.529.
37. (55) Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 170.578.
38. (83) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota, 168.687.
39. (32) Dylan Lupton, Ford, 166.036.
40. (46) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 165.853.

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