Mark Martin has a warning for everyone in NASCAR's Sprint Cup series: Look out for Jimmie Johnson. Johnson won his second pole in a row and third of the season yesterday at Pocono Raceway, knocking Martin off the top spot in qualifying for the Pennsylvania 500 at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Long Pond, Pa.

Coming off a second place at Chicago and a win last week at Indianapolis, it appears Johnson has found his stride after a relatively slow start for the two-time reigning Cup champ.

"What I saw last weekend, because I watched pretty close, and what I saw this weekend, the field should be very frightened," Martin said. "I ran that lap and [crew chief] Tony Gibson was telling me how awesome it was and everything. I said, 'Man, if Jimmie can beat that, he can have it.'

"Well, he not only beat me, he humiliated me by two-tenths [of a second]. Those guys are looking pretty potent right now."

Martin turned a lap of 167.560 mph that looked like it probably would hold up for his first pole since 2001. But Johnson moved him to the outside of the front row with a sizzling 168.215.

Johnson and the No. 48 Chevrolet team got off to what, for them, was a slow start this season, struggling to figure out the Car of Tomorrow. But things seem to be falling into place.

"We've really improved on things since last spring," said Johnson, fourth in the season points with six races to go until the start of the 10-race Chase for the championship.

Behind the two fast Chevys, David Gilliland was third fastest in a Ford at 167.187, followed by Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon at 167.106 in another Chevrolet.

More NASCAR

Goodyear wants to know why its tires failed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis.

"What we're doing right now is gathering all the data we possibly can to try to explain it," Stu Grant, Goodyear's general manager for worldwide racing, said at Pocono Raceway.

Indianapolis turned into a debacle when the right-side tires provided by Goodyear, the exclusive supplier for all three of NASCAR's top racing series, wore out so fast that NASCAR had to keep putting out caution flags every 10 or 12 laps in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.