Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch claimed pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series events at Richmond International Raceway.

Busch set a fastest lap of 21.25sec at an average speed of 127.077mph, having set the benchmark earlier in qualifying for NASCAR's second-tier series event, which runs on Friday night.

The 24-year-old had set the pace in the final practice of the day and, after posting his best effort in his second qualifying lap, nobody was able to get near his time.

"I'm real proud to be able put the Camry on pole for the first time for [crew chief] Dave [Rogers] and for me, as I don't win that very many poles," said Busch after claiming his first pole of the season. "I look forward to tomorrow. We've got a pretty good racecar and I know there's a couple of guys behind us that will be very good too, so we'll just try to hold them off."

David Reutimann had been on provisional pole before Busch and ended up second fastest, which is his best starting spot of the year thus far.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon will see the green flag wave from the second row of the grid after settling their most recent feud from last week at Talladega.

"The 48 [Johnson] didn't have a great day but qualified real well, same old thing," said Gordon. "They're gonna be tough all night and we'll have a lot of fun racing with them like we have been. Hopefully it's us battling for the win."

Stewart Haas' Ryan Newman rounded out the top five, while Penske's Brad Keselowski will start beside him after being the fastest Dodge in qualifying trim. AJ Allmendinger brushed the wall in practice but came back in qualifying to be the fastest Ford, placing his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Fusion 15th.

Joe Nemechek was the quickest among the non-guaranteed drivers in 11th, while Michael McDowell, Max Papis and Dave Blaney failed to qualify.

Pos  Driver              Car        Speed    Time     Gap

 1.  Kyle Busch          Toyota     127.077  21.247s

 2.  David Reutimann     Toyota     126.618  21.324s  + 0.077s

 3.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet  126.464  21.350s  + 0.103s

 4.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet  126.375  21.365s  + 0.118s

 5.  Ryan Newman         Chevrolet  126.245  21.387s  + 0.140s

 6.  Brad Keselowski     Dodge      126.239  21.388s  + 0.141s

 7.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet  126.133  21.406s  + 0.159s

 8.  Jamie McMurray      Chevrolet  126.121  21.408s  + 0.161s

 9.  Brian Vickers       Toyota     126.109  21.410s  + 0.163s

10.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet  126.015  21.426s  + 0.179s

11.  Joe Nemechek        Toyota     125.874  21.450s  + 0.203s

12.  Scott Speed         Toyota     125.868  21.451s  + 0.204s

13.  Casey Mears         Chevrolet  125.845  21.455s  + 0.208s

14.  Mark Martin         Chevrolet  125.839  21.456s  + 0.209s

15.  AJ  Allmendinger    Ford       125.792  21.464s  + 0.217s

16.  Kurt Busch          Dodge      125.769  21.468s  + 0.221s

17.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet  125.728  21.475s  + 0.228s

18.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet  125.698  21.480s  + 0.233s

19.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Chevrolet  125.657  21.487s  + 0.240s

20.  Marcos Ambrose      Toyota     125.640  21.490s  + 0.243s

21.  Matt Kenseth        Ford       125.558  21.504s  + 0.257s

22.  Kasey Kahne         Ford       125.447  21.523s  + 0.276s

23.  Joey Logano         Toyota     125.389  21.533s  + 0.286s

24.  Elliott Sadler      Ford       125.354  21.539s  + 0.292s

25.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet  125.337  21.542s  + 0.295s

26.  Martin Truex Jr     Toyota     125.302  21.548s  + 0.301s

27.  Sam Hornish Jr      Dodge      125.278  21.552s  + 0.305s

28.  Carl Edwards        Ford       125.238  21.559s  + 0.312s

29.  Regan Smith         Chevrolet  125.203  21.565s  + 0.318s

30.  Denny Hamlin        Toyota     125.116  21.580s  + 0.333s

31.  Bobby Labonte       Chevrolet  125.093  21.584s  + 0.337s

32.  Paul Menard         Ford       125.052  21.591s  + 0.344s

33.  Greg Biffle         Ford       124.960  21.607s  + 0.360s

34.  Reed Sorenson       Toyota     124.798  21.635s  + 0.388s

35.  David Ragan         Ford       124.683  21.655s  + 0.408s

36.  Mike Bliss          Chevrolet  124.636  21.663s  + 0.416s

37.  Robby Gordon        Toyota     124.602  21.669s  + 0.422s

38.  Travis Kvapil       Ford       124.229  21.734s  + 0.487s

39.  David Stremme       Ford       124.224  21.735s  + 0.488s

40.  David Gilliland     Ford       124.149  21.748s  + 0.501s

41.  Terry Cook          Dodge      124.098  21.757s  + 0.510s

42.  Kevin Conway        Ford       121.507  22.221s  + 0.974s

43.  Tony Raines         Toyota     123.927  21.787s  + 0.540s

Did not qualify:

     Michael McDowell    Toyota     123.836  21.803  + 0.556s

     Max Papis           Toyota     123.683  21.830s + 0.583s

     Dave Blaney         Toyota     123.587  21.847s + 0.600s