Martin claims Richmond Cup pole

The 50-year-old claimed his 47th Sprint Cup career pole and his fourth ever at Richmond by setting a lap time of 21.292 seconds at an average speed of 126.808 mph, narrowly beating the previous benchmark set by Martin Truex Jr.

"I think I could have gone faster but I'm really happy with that lap," said Martin, who also started from pole position on his first ever race at Richmond, nearly 28 years ago.

"I'm real proud of that lap. We laid down a great lap, had a reasonable run, and we're going to have a great race car tomorrow night. I'll be glad when midnight comes tomorrow night."

Martin is one of eleven drivers fighting for one of the eight spots remaining in this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup, and his pole position moves him a step closer to contending again for an elusive first title in NASCAR's top series.

Earnhardt Ganassi's Truex Jr will start from the front row for the second consecutive week after he was on pole position last weekend at Atlanta.

Local hero Denny Hamlin will share the second row of the grid with reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, a three-time winner at the 0.75-mile oval.

Kasey Kahne, who also looks at securing his place in the Chase this weekend, will start from the inside of the third row, sharing it with Brian Vickers, who is attempting to break into the top 12 in the standings, as well as Kyle Busch, who starts right behind him from eighth.

Brad Keselowski was the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers, impressing once again at the wheel of the #09 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet with the ninth quickest lap of the session, making the most of his late draw and the cooler track conditions, which not everyone was able to profit from.

Matt Kenseth, who arrives to Richmond 12th in the standings, was the worst qualifier of those drivers trying to secure a Chase spot, and he will start from 29th on Saturday night's 400-lap event.

Tony Raines was slowest overall and failed to qualify for the ninth time this year.

Pos  Driver              Make        Speed     Time
 1.  Mark Martin         Chevrolet   126.808   21.292
 2.  Martin Truex Jr     Chevrolet   126.731   21.305 + 0.013
 3.  Denny Hamlin        Toyota      126.630   21.322 + 0.030
 4.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet   126.541   21.337 + 0.045
 5.  Kasey Kahne         Dodge       126.452   21.352 + 0.060
 6.  Brian Vickers       Toyota      126.251   21.386 + 0.094
 7.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet   125.992   21.430 + 0.138
 8.  Kyle Busch          Toyota      125.962   21.435 + 0.143
 9.  Brad Keselowski     Chevrolet   125.921   21.442 + 0.150
10.  Carl Edwards        Ford        125.786   21.465 + 0.173
11.  Reed Sorenson       Dodge       125.769   21.468 + 0.176
12.  David Stremme       Dodge       125.763   21.469 + 0.177
13.  Kurt Busch          Dodge       125.581   21.500 + 0.208
14.  Juan Montoya        Chevrolet   125.570   21.502 + 0.210
15.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet   125.564   21.503 + 0.211
16.  Marcos Ambrose      Toyota      125.552   21.505 + 0.213
17.  AJ Allmendinger     Dodge       125.506   21.513 + 0.221
18.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet   125.482   21.517 + 0.225
19.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet   125.476   21.518 + 0.226
20.  Scott Speed         Toyota      125.418   21.528 + 0.236
21.  Ryan Newman         Chevrolet   125.331   21.543 + 0.251
22.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet   125.290   21.550 + 0.258
23.  David Reutimann     Toyota      125.174   21.570 + 0.278
24.  Greg Biffle         Ford        125.156   21.573 + 0.281
25.  Jamie McMurray      Ford        125.139   21.576 + 0.284
26.  David Ragan         Ford        124.954   21.608 + 0.316
27.  Joey Logano         Toyota      124.781   21.638 + 0.346
28.  Matt Kenseth        Ford        124.694   21.653 + 0.361
29.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet   124.625   21.665 + 0.373
30.  David Gilliland     Toyota      124.521   21.683 + 0.391
31.  Mike Bliss          Chevrolet   124.458   21.694 + 0.402
32.  Dave Blaney         Toyota      124.372   21.709 + 0.417
33.  Sam Hornish Jr      Dodge       124.218   21.736 + 0.444
34.  Elliott Sadler      Dodge       123.967   21.780 + 0.488
35.  Regan Smith         Chevrolet   123.944   21.784 + 0.492
36.  Joe Nemechek        Toyota      123.893   21.793 + 0.501
37.  Bobby Labonte       Ford        123.694   21.828 + 0.536
38.  Casey Mears         Chevrolet   123.683   21.830 + 0.538
39.  John Andretti       Chevrolet   123.581   21.848 + 0.556
40.  Michael Waltrip     Toyota      123.446   21.872 + 0.580
41.  Michael McDowell    Toyota      123.125   21.929 + 0.637
42.  Paul Menard         Ford        123.080   21.937 + 0.645
43.  Max Papis           Toyota      122.772   21.992 + 0.700