Edwards on Nextel Open pole

Edwards set a lap of 28.802 seconds at an average speed of 187.487 mph in his  No. 99 Ford, beating Roush Fenway teammate David Ragan by 0.176 seconds. Both drivers were the only two to lap below the 29 seconds mark.

"It was a lot of fun; I was a little bit nervous about the lap because of the guys that had trouble right beforehand," said Edwards, who had to go out and complete his two laps after Michael Waltrip, Aric Almirola and David Stremme had crashed while completing their runs.

"It just shows how much the track changes. It got a lot different when it got cooler. It's going to be important to start up front because it's going to be such a short race, and we really want to be in the All-Star race."

Bill Davis Racing's Dave Blaney had a strong run, setting the third fastest lap of the night with an effort of 29.014 seconds at an average speed of 186.117 mph.

Blaney will share the second row of the grid with Yates driver David Gilliland, who had been quickest in practice.

Juan Pablo Montoya enjoyed his best qualifying for a while, setting the fifth fastest lap at 29.064 seconds, emerging quickest among the Dodge drivers and also the best placed of the Ganassi cars.

"It was good, a little tight in the middle and a little loose off but it was good," Montoya said. "We were on the conservative side, so I think we've got a very good race car. It should be interesting."

AJ Allmendinger had his best qualifying run of the year thus far, emerging eighth in his  No. 84 Red Bull Toyota Camry. He also qualified 14th for the Craftsman Truck race, which will take place tonight.

"It was good," the former Champ Car star said. "The car was hooked up the first lap. There's not much different that I could ask for. Finally got everything out of it.

"Maybe could have got back to the throttle a little bit sooner in Turn 3, but other than that, that's all she had."

Stremme and Waltrip will start from the last row of the grid, while Joe Gibbs Racing withdrew Almirola's entry after his crash.

Thirty two cars will take the start of the Nextel Open, hoping to finish first or second to take part in the non-points All-Star Challenge.

Pos  Driver            Make        Speed     Time
 1.  Carl Edwards      Ford        187.487   28.802
 2.  David Ragan       Ford        186.284   28.988 + 0.186
 3.  Dave Blaney       Toyota      186.117   29.014 + 0.212
 4.  David Gilliland   Ford        185.880   29.051 + 0.249
 5.  Juan Montoya      Dodge       185.797   29.064 + 0.262
 6.  Jamie McMurray    Ford        185.612   29.093 + 0.291
 7.  Reed Sorenson     Dodge       185.548   29.103 + 0.301
 8.  AJ Allmendinger   Toyota      185.033   29.184 + 0.382
 9.  Ricky Rudd        Ford        184.830   29.216 + 0.414
10.  Paul Menard       Chevrolet   184.716   29.234 + 0.432
11.  Martin Truex Jr   Chevrolet   184.508   29.267 + 0.465
12.  Scott Riggs       Dodge       184.275   29.304 + 0.502
13.  Sterling Marlin   Chevrolet   184.080   29.335 + 0.533
14.  Joe Nemechek      Chevrolet   184.062   29.338 + 0.536
15.  Jeff Green        Chevrolet   183.605   29.411 + 0.609
16.  Mike Bliss        Dodge       183.561   29.418 + 0.616
17.  Tony Raines       Chevrolet   183.542   29.421 + 0.619
18.  Jon Wood          Ford        182.877   29.528 + 0.726
19.  Ward Burton       Chevrolet   182.611   29.571 + 0.769
20.  Johnny Sauter     Chevrolet   182.543   29.582 + 0.780
21.  Kenny Wallace     Chevrolet   182.328   29.617 + 0.815
22.  Clint Bowyer      Chevrolet   182.051   29.662 + 0.860
23.  Elliott Sadler    Dodge       181.702   29.719 + 0.917
24.  JJ Yeley          Chevrolet   181.445   29.761 + 0.959
25.  Robby Gordon      Ford        180.747   29.876 + 1.074
26.  Jeremy Mayfield   Toyota      180.644   29.893 + 1.091
27.  Kyle Petty        Dodge       180.530   29.912 + 1.110
28.  David Reutimann   Toyota      180.427   29.929 + 1.127
29.  Kevin Lepage      Dodge       180.427   29.929 + 1.127
30.  Boris Said        Dodge       177.614   30.403 + 1.601