Almirola on Milwaukee Busch pole

Almirola set a lap of 29.608 seconds at an average speed of 121.589 mph, which held up as the best of the session despite the Joe Gibbs' driver being the first one to complete his two-lap run, out of the 44 drivers attempting to qualify.

"Man, two poles in a row at Milwaukee and I don't get to race," Almirola said. "Something's got to be set for that.

"I'll sit on the pit box and watch. I've got a lot to learn about racing these Busch cars and Denny is really, really good, so I'll just sit there and listen and learn all I can from Denny."

The 23-year-old was on pole last year at Milwaukee as well, also handing the driving duties to Denny Hamlin for the race. Almirola claimed his second pole position of the year and the third of his Busch Series career.

Hamlin was already on his way to Milwaukee by the time qualifying started, having set the fastest time during the final Nextel Cup practice at Infineon Raceway.

Jason Leffler put his Toyota second on the starting grid ahead of Scott Wimmer, who had topped the last practice session before heading into qualifying. Brad Coleman rounded up a good qualifying effort for Joe Gibbs Racing claiming fourth on the starting grid.

Points-leader Carl Edwards ventured on trying to complete his qualifying run, actually succeeding at it after flying all the way from California. Edwards had to rush and complete a long high-speed run through the paddock before being able to jump inside his No. 60 Roush Fenway Ford Fusion.

Travis Kvapil was ready to qualify his car but a very fit Edwards was able to complete his two-lap run in a very consistent fashion, with just six thousandths of a second difference between his first and second laps.

He sat on the outside pole provisionally but ended up ninth on the starting grid, despite not taking part in any practice session.

"That was very close," Edwards said. "This is one of the longest races of the year and it's one of the most fun.

"This is a great track and there are going to be a lot of fast cars. I know Denny [Hamlin] is coming he's obviously got a fast car and we'll see how it goes. It's a fun one."

Edwards had to drive his car without the proper seating position, as the team was ready to have Kvapil qualify it.

The Office Depot driver holds a 701-point lead in the standing and could afford to miss three races and still stay at the top of the championship, but instead he will be one of the men to watch again, as he will pursue his fifth victory of the season tonight.