AVONDALE, Ariz. — There’s nothing like getting back to the track. Martin Truex Jr. and his Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing team were stripped of 50 points and crew chief Kevin Manion was fined $50,000 after their No. 1 Chevrolet failed post race inspection last weekend at Texas.

How’s this for a remedy?

Truex used a lap at 135.120 mph to win the pole for Sunday’s Checker 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

The pole is the third of the season for Truex and fourth of his Cup career. In previous starts from the pole this season, he finished 11th at Daytona in the opener and 26th at Atlanta.

“I keep saying this but it has been a real tough season on us and it feels good to come out here and have a good day,” said Truex, who will move to Michael Waltrip Racing next season.

“Hopefully, we can finish out the deal this weekend. I love coming to Phoenix, it has been a good race track for us and I look forward to great things on Sunday.

“It isn’t for a lack of effort or a lack of speed; we just have made tons of mistakes and have had lots of things go wrong.”

Jimmie Johnson couldn’t wait to get back in his No. 48 Chevrolet after wrecking last weekend at Texas after just three laps. Although he managed to get back out, he finished 38th and lost 111 points of his Sprint Cup Series lead over Mark Martin.

How was his day Friday?

Johnson qualified third-fastest — best among the drivers still in the hunt of for the championship. Johnson has won three of the past four races at Phoenix. Martin won this year’s spring race when Johnson started 10th and finished fourth.

“This race team is just a great group of guys that work their guts out week in and week out. Last weekend, circumstances really took the points away from us,” Johnson said.

“We don’t have a feeling that we messed up or we did something wrong or we didn’t perform — we only made three laps.”

Kurt Busch qualified second -fastest, with Kasey Kahne fourth and Denny Hamlin fifth. Martin, who trails Johnson by 73 points with two races left, will line up 10th.

For Johnson, Friday’s qualifying run helped quiet doubts that were creeping in about his ability to win a NASCAR-record fourth consecutive championship.

“I’ve been all week long waiting to get in to the race car,” he said. “Off the truck we were decent, top-three or four. Those emotions started to go away and I started focusing on today.

“That good medicine of being in the race car kicked in.”

Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Lineup

Race Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Ariz.

Lap length: 1 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 135.12.

2. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 134.579.

3. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 134.454.

4. (9) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 134.293.

5. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 134.228.

6. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 134.223.

7. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 134.173.

8. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 134.078.

9. (07) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 134.028.

10. (5) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 134.023.

11. (55) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 133.949.

12. (77) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 133.924.

13. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 133.879.

14. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 133.874.

15. (00) David Reutimann, Toyota, 133.864.

16. (44) AJ Allmendinger, Ford, 133.759.

17. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 133.72.

18. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 133.7.

19. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 133.68.

20. (71) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 133.571.

21. (47) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 133.551.

22. (7) Robby Gordon, Toyota, 133.417.

23. (13) Max Papis, Toyota, 133.403.

24. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 133.24.

25. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 133.215.

26. (12) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 133.161.

27. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 133.151.

28. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 133.121.

29. (09) David Gilliland, Chevrolet, 133.087.

30. (26) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 133.062.

31. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 132.93.

32. (66) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 132.925.

33. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 132.812.

34. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 132.783.

35. (19) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 132.763.

36. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 132.65.

37. (82) Scott Speed, Toyota, 132.333.

38. (36) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 132.275.

39. (96) Erik Darnell, Ford, 132.178.

40. (43) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, Owner Points.

41. (98) Paul Menard, Ford, Owner Points.

42. (34) John Andretti, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

43. (37) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 132.091.

Failed to Qualify

44. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 132.062.

45. (70) Kevin Conway, Chevrolet, 131.892.

46. (02) Brandon Ash, Dodge, 130.662.

CLICK HERE to view our NASCAR photo gallery