Martin edges Johnson as Hendrick sweep front row at Talladega

The veteran beat the benchmark set by the reigning champion - who spent most of the session on provisional pole - with his second lap of 52.799 seconds, just edging his team-mate by two thousandths of a second.

Chevrolet dominated qualifying, taking seven out of the top 10 spots on the grid. Hendrick Motorsports placed all of its cars in the top-six starting spots, with all of them dipping under the 53 second mark.

Earlier this year Hendrick also swept the front row at Talladega and eventually the outfit had its drivers contending for victory on the final lap, Johnson claiming his first win of the season.

The Wood Brothers Ford of Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne was able to split the Chevrolets at the front with the fourth fastest time - the best of those having to qualify on speed - while Roush Fenway cars filled the remaining spots in the top nine, David Ragan taking eighth ahead of Chase leader Carl Edwards.

Kurt Busch was the best among the Dodges on the grid in 14th, while Toyota teams struggled for speed on their own despite looking quick while drafting in tandem during practice. JTG Daugherty's Bobby Labonte was the fastest in 21st.

Geoffrey Bodine, Scott Speed, TJ Bell and Josh Wise failed to make the field.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time     Gap
 1.  Mark Martin         Hendrick Chevrolet           52.799s
 2.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           52.801s  + 0.002s
 3.  Clint Bowyer        Childress Chevrolet          52.835s  + 0.036s
 4.  Trevor Bayne        Wood Brothers Ford           52.903s  + 0.104s
 5.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           52.930s  + 0.131s
 6.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           52.934s  + 0.135s
 7.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          53.007s  + 0.208s
 8.  David Ragan         Roush Fenway Ford            53.021s  + 0.222s
 9.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            53.138s  + 0.339s
10.  Ryan Newman         Stewart Haas Chevrolet       53.140s  + 0.341s
11.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford            53.142s  + 0.343s
12.  Tony Stewart        Stewart Haas Chevrolet       53.168s  + 0.369s
13.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          53.186s  + 0.387s
14.  Kurt Busch          Penske Dodge                 53.209s  + 0.410s
15.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  53.237s  + 0.438s
16.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                 53.250s  + 0.451s
17.  Travis Kvapil       Front Row Ford               53.250s  + 0.451s
18.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            53.264s  + 0.465s
19.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   53.278s  + 0.479s
20.  Kevin Conway        NEMCO Toyota                 53.291s  + 0.492s
21.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota         53.297s  + 0.498s
22.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet      53.305s  + 0.506s
23.  Michael Waltrip     Waltrip Toyota               53.310s  + 0.511s
24.  AJ Allmendinger     Petty Ford                   53.318s  + 0.519s
25.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          53.318s  + 0.519s
26.  Kasey Kahne         Red Bull Toyota              53.326s  + 0.527s
27.  Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                 53.372s  + 0.573s
28.  JJ Yeley            Front Row Ford               53.393s  + 0.594s
29.  Michael McDowell    HP Toyota                    53.394s  + 0.595s
30.  Brian Vickers       Red Bull Toyota              53.481s  + 0.682s
31.  Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                 53.514s  + 0.715s
32.  Terry Labonte       FAS Lane Ford                53.528s  + 0.729s
33.  Andy Lally          TRG Ford                     53.532s  + 0.733s
34.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                 53.563s  + 0.764s
35.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                 53.565s  + 0.766s
36.  David Reutimann     Waltrip Toyota               53.595s  + 0.796s
37.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               53.596s  + 0.797s
38.  Landon Cassill      Phoenix Chevrolet            53.616s  + 0.817s
39.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  53.641s  + 0.842s
40.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               53.669s  + 0.870s
41.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            53.696s  + 0.897s
42.  Casey Mears         Germain Toyota               54.262s  + 1.463s
43.  Robby Gordon        Gordon Dodge                 54.627s  + 1.828s

Did not qualify:

     Geoffrey Bodine     Baldwin Chevrolet            53.637s  + 0.838s
     Scott Speed         Whitney Ford                 53.956s  + 1.157s
     T.J. Bell           LTD Powersports              54.080s  + 1.281s
     Josh Wise           Max Q Ford                   54.085s  + 1.286s