Brad Keselowski claimed his second Sprint Cup career pole position in qualifying for Sunday's Coke 600, NASCAR's longest race.
The Penske driver set a fastest lap of 28.112sec at an average speed of 192.089mph, which bumped Richard Petty's AJ Allmendinger from pole position. Points' leader Carl Edwards looked a threat after running later in the order thanks to a faster practice time, but in the end he had to settle for third.
"It's an important weekend for Penske Racing and an important weekend for the country," said Keselowski after winning pole for NASCAR's Memorial Day weekend race. "The 600 is a big race for NASCAR, it has a lot of tradition and to add my name to the list of pole winners is pretty special but I'd like to add it to those who have won it. This is the first step to doing that."
Allmendinger will be making his second consecutive front-row start, running as the fastest Ford on a flying lap. Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin will share the second row of the grid with Roush Fenway's Edwards, who drivers a brand-new car this weekend after damaging his All-Star-winning Ford from last week in his post-race celebration.
Richard Childress' Jeff Burton was the fastest Chevy in fifth after setting the pace earlier in practice. Hendrick Motorsports Jimmie Johnson was sixth, ahead of Michael Waltrip's David Reutimann, who looked strong again after finishing fifth in last week's All-Star race.
Roush's David Ragan was eighth while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (LEFT) ran last in the order and made good use of the conditions to impress with ninth fastest while making his Cup debut for the Wood Brothers, filling in for Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne. He was by some margin the fastest of those who needed to make the field on time, running nearly fourth tenths of a second faster than David Starr, second among those non-guaranteed the start before qualifying.
Andy Lally spun on his second flying lap and ended up being bumped from the grid by Stenhouse, while TJ Bell, Scott Wimmer, Tony Raines and Scott Riggs also failed to make the field.
Pos Driver Car Time
1. Brad Keselowski Dodge 28.112
2. A.J.Allmendinger Ford 28.170 + 0.058
3. Carl Edwards Ford 28.171 + 0.059
4. Denny Hamlin Toyota 28.218 + 0.106
5. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 28.236 + 0.124
6. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 28.262 + 0.150
7. David Reutimann Toyota 28.284 + 0.172
8. David Ragan Ford 28.302 + 0.190
9. R.Stenhouse Jr. Ford 28.309 + 0.197
10. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 28.316 + 0.204
11. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 28.331 + 0.219
12. Ryan Newman Chevrolet 28.337 + 0.225
13. Mark Martin Chevrolet 28.360 + 0.248
14. Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 28.391 + 0.279
15. Greg Biffle Ford 28.397 + 0.285
16. Paul Menard Chevrolet 28.411 + 0.299
17. Kasey Kahne Toyota 28.437 + 0.325
18. Brian Vickers Toyota 28.441 + 0.329
19. Matt Kenseth Ford 28.442 + 0.330
20. Regan Smith Chevrolet 28.456 + 0.344
21. Kyle Busch Toyota 28.505 + 0.393
22. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 28.509 + 0.397
23. Joey Logano Toyota 28.523 + 0.411
24. Marcos Ambrose Ford 28.528 + 0.416
25. D.Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 28.581 + 0.469
26. Kurt Busch Dodge 28.595 + 0.483
27. Bobby Labonte Toyota 28.624 + 0.512
28. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 28.660 + 0.548
29. J.P.Montoya Chevrolet 28.699 + 0.587
30. David Gilliland Ford 28.716 + 0.604
31. Travis Kvapil Ford 28.725 + 0.613
32. David Starr Ford 28.732 + 0.620
33. Michael McDowell Toyota 28.772 + 0.660
34. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 28.798 + 0.686
35. Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 28.846 + 0.734
36. Joe Nemechek Toyota 28.851 + 0.739
37. Casey Mears Toyota 28.878 + 0.766
38. David Stremme Chevrolet 28.890 + 0.778
39. Mike Skinner Toyota 28.912 + 0.800
40. Mike Bliss Ford 28.968 + 0.856
41. Landon Cassill Chevrolet 29.100 + 0.988
42. Robby Gordon Dodge 29.224 + 1.112
43. Dave Blaney Chevrolet 29.264 + 1.152