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CONCORD -- Jimmie Johnson will start on the pole for tonight's NASCAR Sprint All-Star race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

It's Johnson's first pole in the all-star race. Drivers completed three laps and had a four-tire pit stop. The quickest overall time determined the lineup.

Johnson beat Kurt Busch for the pole by less than a second. Johnson finished his run in 2 minutes, 1.416 seconds.

"(Johnson's) guys are always the tough ones to beat at Lowe's no matter what it is,'' said Kurt Busch, who qualified second.

Matt Kenseth will start third with Dale Earnhardt Jr. fourth and Mark Martin fifth.

Jeff Gordon, who has won the event three times, starts sixth. Defending race winner Kasey Kahne starts eighth.

Denny Hamlin suffered mechanical problems after pulling out of his pit and stopped his run. He qualified last among the 18 cars. Tony Stewart will start 15th after he initially sped out of his pit after his team changed only two tires. He backed his car to the pit box to complete the stop, losing several seconds.

Tonight's race will feature four segments. The first segment will be 50 laps. The next two will be 20 laps each, the final segment will be 10 laps with the winner collecting $1 million.

2010 SCHEDULE: NASCAR Chairman Brian France said series officials are "way down the road'' at setting next year's schedule.

"We're working with everybody as we would to figure out if realignment is an option for one of the track companies,'' France said.

NASCAR typically announces the next schedule in late summer or early fall.

PIT STOPS: Jeff Burton's team won the pit crew competition Thursday night. Reed Sorenson's team finished second. &ellipses; Tom Reddin, CEO of Richard Petty Motorsports, has left the team.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long @news-record.com