Jamie McMurray takes the pole at Martinsville

Associated Press

Martinsville, va.

Jamie McMurray took a step toward jump-starting his season Saturday by winning the pole at Martinsville Speedway.

McMurray turned a lap of 96.509 mph in his Chevrolet to earn the top starting spot for today’s race. He came to Martinsville ranked 28th in the Sprint Cup Series standings and with a season-best finish of 18th in the opener at Daytona.

“This is really big for our team,” said McMurray. “We’ve had some really good cars, and for the most part, the short tracks is where we’ve run the best.”

McMurray said he was pacing through his team hauler during the qualifying session, and his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing crew was making fun of him for being so nervous about potentially winning the pole.

“I told them, ’Martinsville, the pole, if you get the No. 1 pit stall here, it’s huge. I think that can win the race for you,’ “ McMurray said.

Ryan Newman qualified second with a lap of 96.342 in a Chevrolet. Kasey Kahne qualified third in a Toyota and was followed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Joey Logano and three-time defending race winner Denny Hamlin.

AJ Allmendinger was sixth in a Ford, and was followed by Bobby Labonte, David Reutimann and Kevin Harvick. Regan Smith rounded out the top 10.

Five-time Martinsville winner Jimmie Johnson qualified 17th.

But qualifying results were overshadowed by tire troubles for the second time in three races.

The tires Goodyear brought to Martinsville are leaving marbles made of rubber all over the track. It’s a different tire than the one used last year because Goodyear wanted to prevent grating on the left-side tires that often occurs when cars slide from the asphalt racing surface into the concrete corners.