Want to know how long it's been since the pole sitter ended a race at Martinsville in the same position he started?
Two ways to explain. First, Jimmie Johnson wasn't only still racing full-time, he still had two more championships to win. Also, STP was a big-time player in the game.
Yep, it was 12 years ago when Jimmie won the Martinsville pole and went on to win the STP Gas Booster 500 in his old No. 48 Chevrolet.
Needless to say, Saturday's qualifying might not mean much when the laps grow short Sunday. But they qualified regardless.
Christopher Bell recorded the fastest lap time, putting him in the pole position. Chase Elliott will join him in the front row.
Top 10 qualifying times from Martinsville
- Christopher Bell: 19.718 seconds
- Chase Elliott: 19.735
- Alex Bowman: 19.738
- Kyle Larson: 19.754
- Denny Hamlin: 19.757
- Chris Buescher: 19.757
- Joey Logano: 19.761
- Bubba Wallace: 19.766
- Tyler Reddick: 19.780
- William Byron: 19.781
NASCAR lineup for Martinsville race
- Christopher Bell, No. 20
- Chase Elliott, No. 9
- Alex Bowman, No. 48
- Kyle Larson, No. 5
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11
- Chris Buescher, No. 17
- Joey Logano, No. 22
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45
- William Byron, No. 24
- Chase Briscoe, No. 19
- Kyle Busch, No. 8
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54
- Josh Berry, No. 21
- Michael McDowell, No. 71
- John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42
- Ross Chastain, No. 1
- Austin Dillon, No. 3
- Zane Smith, No. 38
- Austin Cindric, No. 2
- Ryan Preece, No. 60
- Cole Custer, No. 41
- AJ Allmendinger, No. 16
- Noah Gragson, No. 4
- Todd Gilliland, No. 34
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6
- Ty Dillon, No. 10
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77
- Justin Haley, No. 7
- Erik Jones, No. 43
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12
- Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47
- Riley Herbst, No. 35
- Cody Ware, No. 51
- Casey Mears, No. ...