Roush drivers dominate Texas NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying

Biffle had edged Chase leader Carl Edwards earlier in practice and was able to later up his speed with a faster lap in qualifying, setting a time of 27.873 seconds at an average speed of 193.736 mph, which stands as the fastest pole position of the 2011 season.

His team-mate Ragan had been on provisional pole until getting beaten by the slightest margin by Biffle, while Matt Kenseth - the most recent winner at the track - completed a top-three sweep by the team. Edwards got loose while starting his lap and paid the price, finishing seventh fastest.

"It was a great lap," said Biffle. "The car was really fast right off the truck. It's a tribute to my team, how hard they work and how far we've come as a team. We've been fast through practice and it was a pretty uneventful lap. One one-thousandth of a second is not a huge margin to be on pole. It's really exciting that our racecars are that good."

Stewart-Haas Racing's Tony Stewart was fifth behind the fastest Chevrolet of Richard Childress Racing's Paul Menard. Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann was the best Toyota in sixth, while Penske's Brad Keselowski was the fastest Dodge in eighth. Defending champion Jimmie Johnson was 11th, with RCR's Kevin Harvick 21st.

Wood Brothers' Trevor Bayne was the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers, ending the session 13th fastest while David Stremme, David Starr and Reed Sorenson failed to make the field.

Teams will run two practice sessions on Saturday, where they will focus on race preparation for Sunday's 500-mile Chase round.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                      Time     Gap
 1.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford             27.873s
 2.  David Ragan         Roush Fenway Ford             27.874s  + 0.001s
 3.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford             27.884s  + 0.011s
 4.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet           27.916s  + 0.043s
 5.  Tony Stewart        Stewart Haas Chevrolet        27.942s  + 0.069s
 6.  David Reutimann     Waltrip Toyota                27.953s  + 0.080s
 7.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford             27.969s  + 0.096s
 8.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                  27.976s  + 0.103s
 9.  Kasey Kahne         Red Bull Toyota               27.987s  + 0.114s
10.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet       27.995s  + 0.122s
11.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet            27.998s  + 0.125s
12.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                    28.006s  + 0.133s
13.  Trevor Bayne        Wood Brothers Ford            28.039s  + 0.166s
14.  Kurt Busch          Penske Dodge                  28.056s  + 0.183s
15.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet   28.072s  + 0.199s
16.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet            28.106s  + 0.233s
17.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                  28.107s  + 0.234s
18.  Clint Bowyer        Childress Chevrolet           28.107s  + 0.234s
19.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota                28.127s  + 0.254s
20.  Brian Vickers       Red Bull Toyota               28.137s  + 0.264s
21.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet           28.177s  + 0.304s
22.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet   28.188s  + 0.315s
23.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet            28.189s  + 0.316s
24.  Ryan Newman         Stewart Haas Chevrolet        28.210s  + 0.337s
25.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                  28.228s  + 0.355s
26.  AJ Allmendinger     Petty Ford                    28.235s  + 0.362s
27.  JJ Yeley            Front Row Ford                28.262s  + 0.389s
28.  Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                  28.273s  + 0.400s
29.  Landon Cassill      Phoenix Chevrolet             28.326s  + 0.453s
30.  Mark Martin         Hendrick Chevrolet            28.356s  + 0.483s
31.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet           28.363s  + 0.490s
32.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota          28.388s  + 0.515s
33.  Casey Mears         Germain Toyota                28.388s  + 0.515s
34.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                28.418s  + 0.545s
35.  Michael McDowell    HP Toyota                     28.460s  + 0.587s
36.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet             28.475s  + 0.602s
37.  Mike Bliss          FAS Lane Ford                 28.586s  + 0.713s
38.  Mike Skinner        Front Row Ford                28.586s  + 0.713s
39.  Scott Speed         Whitney Ford                  28.620s  + 0.747s
40.  Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                  28.632s  + 0.759s
41.  Andy Lally          TRG Chevrolet                 28.643s  + 0.770s
42.  David Stremme       Inception Chevrolet           28.669s  + 0.796s
43.  David Starr         Leavine Ford                  28.671s  + 0.798s
44.  Travis Kvapil       Front Row Ford                28.711s  + 0.838s
45.  Reed Sorenson       Gordon Dodge                  28.849s  + 0.976s
46.  Geoffrey Bodine     Baldwin Chevrolet             29.646s  + 1.773s