Martin takes Cup pole at Bristol

The 50-year-old set a fastest lap of 15.256 seconds at an average speed of 125.733mph to win his seventh-career pole at the half-mile oval.

Martin was on pole two weeks ago at Atlanta but a blown tyre led him to a poor finish which, following two previous retirements, had him on the verge of losing his guaranteed start next week as his entry is now 35th in the owner standings.

"The car felt so good today," said Martin after claiming back-to-back poles for the first time since 1989. "It's no secret that we have not had the best of luck this year and it's really nice to come back this week and display speed once again. We've got speed and the [luck] part is going to turn around sooner or later."

Ryan Newman will start alongside Martin after getting within four thousandths of a second of the veteran's time. The Stewart Haas driver claimed his best qualifying effort of the year thus far, locking out the front row for Chevy ahead of Sunday's race when the manufacturer is hoping to win for the first time this season.

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson qualified third, while Greg Biffle was fourth and fastest of the Fords despite still feeling some pain while behind the wheel following the rib injury he sustained during a fishing trip on Tuesday.

"They're hurting after that lap," Biffle said about the pain in his ribs. "I don't know. I kind of grunted hard on that last lap there coming off Turn 4. I'm a little sore right now but I'll be good for Sunday."

Kasey Kahne was the best Dodge, rounding out the top-five, ahead of the best Toyota of David Reutimann who had emerged fastest during practice earlier in the day. Dave Blaney was an impressive seventh as the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers, ahead of Jamie McMurray and five-time Bristol winner Jeff Gordon.

Scott Speed was far ahead of his rookie rival Joey Logano, taking 11th place on the grid for his Bristol debut in the Sprint Cup, while the Joe Gibbs teenager was only 23rd.

"We made the right decisions after practice I think for sure," said Speed. "You obviously pay attention to guys that run good. It's great that we're towards the front. That's going to help for sure in the race and hopefully we can make it good for happy hour."

Carl Edwards, the most recent winner at the track, could only manage to qualify 38th, while Jeff Burton who won a year ago, was even further back in 40th place, ahead of Roush Fenway's David Ragan.

Michael Waltrip qualified 21st but is set to drop to the back of the grid on Sunday after switching to his back-up car, having crashed his primary one during practice.

Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield both failed to make the field.

Pos Driver                 Car           Time       Gap
 1. Mark Martin            Chevrolet     15.256
 2. Ryan Newman            Chevrolet     15.260  +0.004
 3. Jimmie Johnson         Chevrolet     15.295  +0.039
 4. Greg Biffle            Ford          15.315  +0.059
 5. Kasey Kahne            Dodge         15.356  +0.100
 6. David Reutimann        Toyota        15.374  +0.118
 7. Reed Sorenson          Dodge         15.407  +0.151
 8. Dave Blaney            Toyota        15.411  +0.155
 9. Jamie McMurray         Ford          15.413  +0.157
10. Jeff Gordon            Chevrolet     15.441  +0.185
11. Scott Speed            Toyota        15.450  +0.194
12. Juan Pablo Montoya     Chevrolet     15.458  +0.202
13. Marcos Ambrose         Toyota        15.458  +0.202
14. David Gilliland        Chevrolet     15.481  +0.225
15. Tony Stewart           Chevrolet     15.487  +0.231
16. Todd Bodine            Toyota        15.512  +0.256
17. Travis Kvapil          Ford          15.517  +0.261
18. Aric Almirola          Chevrolet     15.518  +0.262
19. Kyle Busch             Toyota        15.521  +0.265
20. Martin Truex Jr        Chevrolet     15.523  +0.267
21. Michael Waltrip        Toyota        15.529  +0.273
22. Elliott Sadler         Dodge         15.532  +0.276
23. Joey Logano            Toyota        15.534  +0.278
24. Denny Hamlin           Toyota        15.538  +0.282
25. Sam Hornish Jr         Dodge         15.546  +0.290
26. A.J.Allmendinger       Dodge         15.546  +0.290
27. Brian Vickers          Toyota        15.553  +0.297
28. Joe Nemechek           Toyota        15.559  +0.303
29. Sterling Marlin        Dodge         15.576  +0.320
30. David Stremme          Dodge         15.585  +0.329
31. Kevin Harvick          Chevrolet     15.591  +0.335
32. Clint Bowyer           Chevrolet     15.596  +0.340
33. Kurt Busch             Dodge         15.597  +0.341
34. Matt Kenseth           Ford          15.622  +0.366
35. Dale Earnhardt Jr      Chevrolet     15.635  +0.379
36. Robby Gordon           Toyota        15.637  +0.381
37. Bobby Labonte          Ford          15.644  +0.388
38. Casey Mears            Chevrolet     15.676  +0.420
39. Carl Edwards           Ford          15.683  +0.427
40. John Andretti          Chevrolet     15.696  +0.440
41. Scott Riggs            Toyota        15.703  +0.447
42. Jeremy Mayfield        Toyota        15.707  +0.451
43. Jeff Burton            Chevrolet     15.734  +0.478
44. David Ragan            Ford          15.739  +0.483
45. Paul Menard            Ford          15.741  +0.485