Edwards claims Bristol Cup pole

Edwards ran close to the existing track record for the half-mile track, being the only one to break into the 14-second bracket with a lap of 14.989s, at an average speed of 128.014 mph, knocking his team-mate Greg Biffle from the top spot of the grid.

It is the third race in a row that a Roush Fenway driver will start from pole position, following record-breaking qualifying laps for Edwards and Matt Kenseth at Phoenix and Las Vegas respectively in the previous two races, after Trevor Bayne drove a Roush-built Wood Brothers car to victory in the season-opener at Daytona.

Edwards, who had been fastest in practice earlier in the day after overcoming some early set-up issues, hopes to make the most of his track position and his first pit-stall allocation, although he fears the tyre specification change that will come into effect for Sunday's race may completely change the balance and handling from Friday's practice and qualifying.

NASCAR officials decided along with Goodyear to change the right-side tyre specification for the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series following excessive wear during practice.

"The potential is there to completely turn this field upside-down figuratively," said Edwards referring to the impact NASCAR's decision may have. "Guys that were struggling today could be dominant on Sunday. It's going to be very interesting.

"At a place like this the tyre is hugely important. There's so much load on the car - it's not really an aero racetrack - that the tyre and the way it deforms with this huge amount of load, the way it grips and twists and matches the left and right-side angles and all those things, it means the world."

Biffle will join Edwards in a Roush Fenway front row sweep on Sunday, while Furniture Row's Regan Smith was third-fastest in his #78 Chevrolet, claiming the best qualifying result of his Cup career. Richard Childress Racing's Paul Menard was fourth-fastest ahead of Roush's David Ragan, who rounded out the top five.

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson was sixth after almost losing control of his car while finishing his second lap. Most of his Hendrick Motorsports team-mates also enjoyed solid qualifying efforts, Jeff Gordon finishing the session seventh while Mark Martin was ninth - although Dale Earnahrdt Jr ended up further back in 22nd.

Points leader Kyle Busch was 12th, right behind the lowest Roush Ford qualifier, former Bristol winner Kenseth.

Bill Elliott was fastest of the cars having to qualify on speed, while Ken Schrader failed to make the field.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time     Gap
 1.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            14.989s
 2.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            15.035s  + 0.046s
 3.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet      15.040s  + 0.051s
 4.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          15.045s  + 0.056s
 5.  David Ragan         Roush Fenway Ford            15.055s  + 0.066s
 6.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           15.059s  + 0.070s
 7.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           15.076s  + 0.087s
 8.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               15.104s  + 0.115s
 9.  Mark Martin         Hendrick Chevrolet           15.108s  + 0.119s
10.  Kasey Kahne         Red Bull Toyota              15.115s  + 0.126s
11.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford            15.121s  + 0.132s
12.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                 15.123s  + 0.134s
13.  Tony Stewart        Stewart Haas Chevrolet       15.129s  + 0.140s
14.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   15.131s  + 0.142s
15.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          15.150s  + 0.161s
16.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota         15.152s  + 0.163s
17.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          15.171s  + 0.182s
18.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                 15.171s  + 0.182s
19.  Trevor Bayne        Wood Brothers Ford           15.174s  + 0.185s
20.  Kurt Busch          Penske Dodge                 15.181s  + 0.192s
21.  Ryan Newman         Stewart Haas Chevrolet       15.181s  + 0.192s
22.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           15.191s  + 0.202s
23.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                 15.215s  + 0.226s
24.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  15.216s  + 0.227s
25.  Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                 15.219s  + 0.230s
26.  David Reutimann     Waltrip Toyota               15.228s  + 0.239s
27.  Clint Bowyer        Childress Chevrolet          15.233s  + 0.244s
28.  AJ Allmendinger     Petty Ford                   15.257s  + 0.268s
29.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               15.258s  + 0.269s
30.  Brian Vickers       Red Bull Toyota              15.276s  + 0.287s
31.  Bill Elliott        Phoenix Chevrolet            15.325s  + 0.336s
32.  Landon Cassill      Germain Toyota               15.336s  + 0.347s
33.  Robby Gordon        Gordon Dodge                 15.371s  + 0.382s
34.  Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                 15.414s  + 0.425s
35.  Travis Kvapil       Front Row Ford               15.436s  + 0.447s
36.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  15.437s  + 0.448s
37.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            15.462s  + 0.473s
38.  JJ Yeley            Whitney Chevrolet            15.473s  + 0.484s
39.  Michael McDowell    HP Toyota                    15.475s  + 0.486s
40.  Dennis Setzer       K-Automotive Dodge           15.565s  + 0.576s
41.  Tony Raines         Front Row Ford               15.616s  + 0.627s
42.  Andy Lally          TRG Chevrolet                15.869s  + 0.880s
43.  Casey Mears         Germain Toyota               15.610s  + 0.621s

Did not qualify:

     Ken Schrader        FAS Lane Ford                15.660s  + 0.671s