Greg Biffle claims Bristol Sprint Cup pole
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Greg Biffle claimed pole position for Sunday's race at Bristol
The Roush Fenway driver carried on his early season hot streak, claiming his 10th career pole position and his fourth top-10 start of the year in as many races, having finished third in the first three events of 2012.
Biffle beat the previous benchmark set by last year's autumn winner at Bristol Brad Keselowski, setting a lap of 15.324 seconds at an average speed of 125.215 mph.
Penske's AJ Allmendinger got within one thousandth of a second of Biffle's time, locking up his first front row start of the season.
"Man I don't know, I've got to pinch myself, I think I'm dreaming," said Biffle, who also secured a place in next year's Shootout thanks to his first pole of the season.
"Everything's going well right now. I've got a lot of support from my team, the guys at the shop and [crew chief] Matt Puccia is doing a great job... I'm still focused and dedicated and giving 100 per cent, just having a great time right now."
Stewart-Haas' Ryan Newman, the track-record holder, was third fastest ahead of five-time Bristol winner Jeff Gordon while Allmendinger's team-mate Keselowski rounded out the fastest five.
Biffle's team-mate Carl Edwards led practice earlier but could not manage better than eighth in a closely fought session, where the top-nine qualifiers were split by less than a tenth of a second in the close confines of the half-mile concrete coliseum.
Five-time event winner Kyle Busch saved a sideways moment starting his qualifying run to take 13th on the grid after struggling for balance earlier in practice.
Reigning champion and last week's winner Tony Stewart, who struggled at concrete tracks at the end of last year, qualified 23rd while Cup returnee Brian Vickers was 25th, taking over from Mark Martin in Michael Waltrip's #55 Toyota.
Timmy Hill was the only non-qualifier of the day, while Robby Gordon withdrew from the event following electrical issues on his car.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
1. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 15.324s
2. AJ Allmendinger Penske Dodge 15.325s + 0.001s
3. Ryan Newman Stewart-HaasChevrolet 15.331s + 0.007s
4. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 15.340s + 0.016s
5. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 15.367s + 0.043s
6. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 15.373s + 0.049s
7. Aric Almirola Petty Ford 15.385s + 0.061s
8. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 15.389s + 0.065s
9. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota 15.392s + 0.068s
10. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet 15.430s + 0.106s
11. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 15.432s + 0.108s
12. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 15.433s + 0.109s
13. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota 15.452s + 0.128s
14. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 15.461s + 0.137s
15. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 15.461s + 0.137s
16. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota 15.474s + 0.150s
17. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 15.480s + 0.156s
18. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 15.491s + 0.167s
19. David Reutimann Baldwin Chevrolet 15.491s + 0.167s
20. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota 15.495s + 0.171s
21. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford 15.516s + 0.192s
22. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 15.532s + 0.208s
23. Tony Stewart Stewart-HaasChevrolet 15.541s + 0.217s
24. Casey Mears Germain Ford 15.547s + 0.223s
25. Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota 15.547s + 0.223s
26. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 15.566s + 0.242s
27. Kurt Busch Chevrolet 15.577s + 0.253s
28. David Stremme Inception Toyota 15.589s + 0.265s
29. Landon Cassill BK Toyota 15.594s + 0.270s
30. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 15.601s + 0.277s
31. David Ragan Front Row Ford 15.604s + 0.280s
32. Brendan Gaughan Childress Chevrolet 15.617s + 0.293s
33. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 15.628s + 0.304s
34. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota 15.638s + 0.314s
35. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 15.646s + 0.322s
36. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 15.648s + 0.324s
37. Josh Wise Front Row Ford 15.679s + 0.355s
38. Reed Sorenson Turn One Chevrolet 15.691s + 0.367s
39. Michael McDowell Parsons Ford 15.732s + 0.408s
40. JJ Yeley Robinson-Blakeney Toyota 15.750s + 0.426s
41. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 15.765s + 0.441s
42. Ken Schrader FAS Lane Ford 15.907s + 0.583s
43. Scott Riggs R3 Chevrolet 15.809s + 0.485s
Did not qualify:
Timmy Hill Rick Ware/Max Q Ford 15.953s + 0.629s
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