Kyle Busch earned the pole at Phoenix International Raceway and Jimmie Johnson escaped serious injury after a scary crash in NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying Friday. Johnson was on his second lap in the final round on the mile oval when he had an issue on the left side of his car and rammed into the second-turn wall at full speed. The right front of the No. 48 car took the most damage and Johnson was able to climb out after the car slid onto the grass. The six-time Cup champion was examined and released from the infield care center. After the red flag to clean up the wreck, Busch won his 18th career pole and his first at Phoenix since 2012. Carl Edwards qualified second and Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin third, giving Toyota the top three spots for the race Sunday. Kurt Busch was fourth, and Johnson fifth on a rough day for Hendrick Motorsports. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won November's rain shortened race to end Kevin Harvick's four-race win streak at Phoenix, failed to advance past the first round and will start 26th. The first round of qualifying including a bizarre red flag after Kasey Kahne's car began smoking near the dash while he was running second. The Hendrick driver said he tried to turn the car off and it kept running. Kahne's car was towed to the garage. He earned the 24th spot, but will need a new engine and will start at the rear Sunday. Harvick, who has dominated at Phoenix, complained of a loose car in practice, qualified 18th at the mile tri-oval. Ty Dillon, filling in for the injured Tony Stewart, scraped the wall in the first round and will start 28th. Power sets the pace Australia's Will Power crashed in Friday's first practice session for the season-opening IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, then recovered to set the speed pace in sunny Florida. The 2016 campaign in the US-based open cockpit series begins Sunday over a 1.8-mile (2.89km), 14-turn temporary street circuit with New Zealand's Scott Dixon trying to defend his season points title, won on a tie-breaker of Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya last August. Team Penske racer Power's lap on 1min, 0.9431 of a second at 106.329 mph was the best for any of the 22 drivers set the compete for the crown, but still .3 off the track record lap Power set last year in winning his fifth pole position at St. Petersburg. On only his fifth practice lap, Power crashed entering turn nine. The car sustained heavy right-side damage when it hit the wall. Dixon, a 38-time IndyCar race winner, was second fastest at 1:00.9573 (106.304 mph) for Chip Ganassi Racing. The three-time St. Pete runner-up seeks his first checkered flag on the Florida layout. France's Simon Pagenaud, Power's teammate, was third on 1:01.1796. Montoya, the defending St. Petersburg race champion, was 10th in the practice session.
