MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Hold everything.

Jimmie Johnson did not win the pole for Sunday's Tums 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Ryan Newman made sure of that.

Johnson didn't lead a lap Friday in a practice session. In fact, he didn't qualify in the top 10 (he will start 15th).

Johnson was actually — dare we say it — a little off his game.

Johnson has started worse than 15th in a race only five times this season. Even so, his record at Martinsville — five wins in the past six races—and run in the Chase for the Sprint Cup so far (three wins in five races) make Friday's results appear less important.

"Really, the biggest downer for me was I ran two (qualifying) laps that I thought were good enough for the pole and then I heard the time afterward and I said, 'What?"' Johnson said. "To feel like everything was right, the car felt right and not be any faster—wow.

"I sat and thought about it. I know how good the car is. There are going to be tests throughout the championship and how we react and how we handle situations—and this is one of them."

With five races remaining, Johnson holds a 90-point lead over Mark Martin and 135 over Jeff Gordon, his teammates at Hendrick Motorsports.

Gordon (second) and Martin (fourth) will start ahead of Johnson.

"Any time we can put a gap between us and in pit selection, it's good for us," said Gordon, who has seven wins at Martinsville and has finished in the top five in 21 of his 33 races at the track.

"I feel like we have momentum right now and we want to keep pushing forward with that momentum and continue to put good, solid finishes in—and hopefully start putting some wins together.

"This is a track where we can do that."

Newman spoiled the party Friday, knocking Gordon from the pole with a lap at 96.795 mph—56/1,000th of a second faster than Gordon.

"It's the place to be and it's the place to finish, and that's what we want," said Newman, who made the Chase but is looking for his first win of the season.

The pole is Newman's second of the season and 45th of his career.