LOUDON, N.H., June 25 (UPI) -- Juan Pablo Montoya turned in the fastest qualifying lap at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway Friday and earned the third pole of his Sprint Cup career.
Montoya turned in a lap of 132.337 miles per hour around the flat 1-mile oval and will start out front for Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301. Montoya is in need of a win since he currently sits 20th in points. Only the Top 12 point earners make it into NASCAR's season-ending Chase for the Championship.
"I think the position we are in points, we definitely need to have good results," Montoya said. "We've got a good race car and right now we're running really good. Last time we were here, we ran really well, so I'm hoping for the same thing."
Kasey qualified 0.04 of a second behind Montoya and will also start on the first row.
Kurt Busch was third, followed by Mark Martin and Ryan Newman. David Reutimann, Joe Nemechek, Sam Hornish, Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the first 10.
Defending race winner Joey Logano qualified 11th and points leader Kevin Harvick will start 24th. Harvick holds a 140-point lead over Johnson.
