Charlotte NASCAR: Jeff Gordon denies Kevin Harvick pole

Harvick and Gordon were the last two drivers in the 43-car line to qualify for Saturday night's race.

Gordon's Hendrick team-mate Kasey Kahne had been fastest for the majority of the session, having gone out second.

But Kahne was convinced he had made costly mistakes on his run and expected to be deposed.

It eventually took 36 cars for that to happen, with Roush Fenway's Greg Biffle taking over provisional pole.

Biffle's time held up against a challenge from Jimmie Johnson, but next two cars out Harvick and Gordon both went quicker and ended up sharing the front row.

Gordon's lap of 27.791 seconds and 194.308mph was 0.015 seconds faster than Kansas polesitter and winner Harvick's Richard Childress Chevrolet.

Behind Biffle in third, Gordon's Hendrick stablemates Johnson, Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr filled fourth to sixth places.

Ryan Newman and Juan Pablo Montoya share row four, followed by the Busch brothers.

Montoya's 2014 Earnhardt Ganassi replacement Kyle Larson is making his Cup debut this weekend with Phoenix. He qualified 21st, only one place behind points leader Matt Kenseth.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time     Gap
 1.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           27.791s
 2.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          27.806s  +0.015s
 3.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            27.841s  +0.050s
 4.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           27.865s  +0.074s
 5.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           27.879s  +0.088s
 6.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           27.902s  +0.111s
 7.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       27.913s  +0.122s
 8.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  27.919s  +0.128s
 9.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota             27.921s  +0.130s
10.  Kurt Busch          Furniture Row Chevrolet      27.963s  +0.172s
11.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   27.980s  +0.189s
12.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                  27.983s  +0.192s
13.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          28.015s  +0.224s
14.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota               28.020s  +0.229s
15.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            28.041s  +0.250s
16.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford            28.072s  +0.281s
17.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               28.091s  +0.300s
18.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota             28.107s  +0.316s
19.  Brian Scott         Childress Chevrolet          28.122s  +0.331s
20.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota             28.126s  +0.335s
21.  Kyle Larson         Phoenix Chevrolet            28.131s  +0.340s
22.  Mark Martin         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       28.157s  +0.366s
23.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                  28.162s  +0.371s
24.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota         28.179s  +0.388s
25.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  28.189s  +0.398s
26.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          28.203s  +0.412s
27.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota               28.278s  +0.487s
28.  Casey Mears         Germain Ford                 28.333s  +0.542s
29.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   28.339s  +0.548s
30.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford               28.369s  +0.578s
31.  Cole Whitt          Swan Toyota                  28.370s  +0.579s
32.  Landon Cassill      Circle Sport Chevrolet       28.470s  +0.679s
33.  Josh Wise           Front Row Ford               28.542s  +0.751s
34.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               28.561s  +0.770s
35.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       28.583s  +0.792s
36.  David Reutimann     BK Toyota                    28.631s  +0.840s
37.  Michael McDowell    Parsons Ford                 28.659s  +0.868s
38.  Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                 28.741s  +0.950s
39.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            28.746s  +0.955s
40.  Timmy Hill          FAS Lane Ford                28.823s  +1.032s
41.  Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                    28.924s  +1.133s
42.  JJ Yeley            Baldwin Chevrolet            29.049s  +1.258s
43.  Blake Koch          Leavine Ford                 29.905s  +2.114s