By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

There is a new superstition that point leader Jimmie Johnson has utilized since last week in Martinsville. When he posts the fastest time in qualifying, he doesn’t exit his car until he’s either knocked off the pole, or he officially is the pole winner. His superstition is now two-for-two as he takes his second straight pole, and fourth pole of the year.

But it turns out he’s not superstitious… His engine tuner is.

“I was ready to get out, and my engine tuner stuck his head in the car and said ‘Hey man, you are going to be sitting here a long time this week’. And I went ‘Oh yea, that is right. I’m not superstitious, but I’ll sit here’. And, I sat there. It doesn’t mean anything, but may as well. At this point in the season, you have to pull out the stops. It gives us a nice talking point I guess through it all,” joked the five time champion, Johnson.

Johnson bested Greg Biffle, who says it was strange that the laptimes didn’t get faster later in the session like is usually the case. Kyle Busch seemed very positive about his car and will start third. Clint Bowyer who still has a shot at the title took the fourth position, and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-five qualifiers for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500.

The surprise of the session — shouldn’t be a surprise — was Trevor Bayne. He was on the list of go-or-go-homers and he knocked down the seventh fastest lap.

The man who comes into Texas second in the point standings is Brad Keselowski. He will start Sunday’s race behind the 8-ball — or the 48-car rather — as he starts from the eighth position. Keselowski was actually encouraged by his qualifying lap, as he has struggled in qualifying all season long.

“It feels like the pole.  It may not be the pole, but it feels like the pole for us.  Our car has had a ton of speed since we’ve been here in race trim.  Qualifying trim has been our weakness all year.  I think that bodes very well for us on Sunday,” Keselowski stated confidently.

He will attempt to chip away at Johnson’s two point lead on Sunday. When asked if he thought he had anything for the No. 48 car on Sunday, Keselowski just smiled and responded, “I think so.”

Kasey Kahne is the fourth man in the hunt for the championship, he qualified 13th.

 – Toby Christie is the lead Motorsports writer for Sicknissified.com, and he can be reached via twitter or email. Tweet him @Tobalical or email him at tobalical@sicknissified.com. You can also find his work at TheFinalLap.com this weekend.