Greg Biffle takes second pole of 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season at Darlington

The Roush Fenway Racing driver just edged the Hendrick Motorsports racer with a lap of 27.281 seconds, at an average speed of 180.257 mph, to claim his second pole of 2012, having started from the top spot earlier this season at Bristol.

Biffle, a two-time Darlington winner, had been second fastest in the first practice session behind Richard Childress Racing's Kevin Harvick, also running second best in final practice behind Penske's AJ Allmendinger.

The former Truck and Nationwide Series champion joked after his run that his qualifying effort was almost hampered by a small balloon flying in front of him as he was set to start his first flying lap.

"It may sound stupid but that red balloon over there caught me more off-guard than anything," said Biffle. "I gave up in Turn 4, saw this thing in the middle of the track and almost lost concentration.

"But that was a pretty on-edge lap. I felt like I left a lot on the table on Turns 1 and 2 but I guess I got through [Turns] 3 and 4 pretty good."

Johnson beat Hendrick team-mate Kasey Kahne to second despite setting identical teams by virtue of his better ranking in the points standings. The five-time champion was the first of at least five cars to brush the wall in the opening practice, getting the traditional 'Darlington stripe'.

A third Hendrick-built Chevy, Ryan Newman's Stewart-Haas Impala, was fourth fastest ahead of the Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch and Michael Waltrip Racing's Martin Truex Jr.

Roush's Carl Edwards was seventh ahead of pre-race favourite Denny Hamlin, who ran very consistent laps during the second practice, showing strong race pace in his JGR Toyota Camry. Last year's surprise winner Regan Smith and RCR's Jeff Burton rounded out the top 10 in qualifying.

Scott Speed, making his third start of the season, was the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers in 29th, while Danica Patrick will line up 38th for her second Cup race, her first at Darlington.

Scott Riggs, Michael McDowell, Stephen Leicht and Mike Bliss failed to make the field.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time     Gap
 1.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            27.281s
 2.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           27.386s  + 0.105s
 3.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           27.386s  + 0.105s
 4.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       27.402s  + 0.121s
 5.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                 27.404s  + 0.123s
 6.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               27.424s  + 0.143s
 7.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            27.427s  + 0.146s
 8.  Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                 27.444s  + 0.163s
 9.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet      27.451s  + 0.170s
10.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          27.458s  + 0.177s
11.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  27.459s  + 0.178s
12.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           27.461s  + 0.180s
13.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   27.474s  + 0.193s
14.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          27.484s  + 0.203s
15.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                 27.500s  + 0.219s
16.  AJ Allmendinger     Penske Dodge                 27.506s  + 0.225s
17.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       27.515s  + 0.234s
18.  Mark Martin         Waltrip Toyota               27.551s  + 0.270s
19.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford            27.592s  + 0.311s
20.  Landon Cassill      BK Toyota                    27.613s  + 0.332s
21.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                 27.630s  + 0.349s
22.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota         27.631s  + 0.350s
23.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          27.635s  + 0.354s
24.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           27.642s  + 0.361s
25.  Kurt Busch          Phoenix Chevrolet            27.651s  + 0.370s
26.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota               27.661s  + 0.380s
27.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  27.735s  + 0.454s
28.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   27.794s  + 0.513s
29.  Scott Speed         Go Green Ford                27.802s  + 0.521s
30.  Josh Wise           Front Row Ford               27.823s  + 0.542s
31.  Casey Mears         Germain Ford                 27.825s  + 0.544s
32.  David Stremme       Inception Toyota             27.845s  + 0.564s
33.  Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                    27.847s  + 0.566s
34.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            27.857s  + 0.576s
35.  Mike Skinner        Hamilton Means Toyota        27.957s  + 0.676s
36.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               27.978s  + 0.697s
37.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford               28.004s  + 0.723s
38.  Danica Patrick      Baldwin Chevrolet            28.021s  + 0.740s
39.  Cole Whitt          Turn One Chevrolet           28.021s  + 0.740s
40.  Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                 28.097s  + 0.816s
41.  David Reutimann     BK Toyota                    28.196s  + 0.915s
42.  Reed Sorenson       FAS Lane Ford                28.307s  + 1.026s
43.  JJ Yeley            Robinson Blakeney Toyota     28.125s  + 0.844s

Did not qualify:

     Scott Riggs         R3 Chevrolet                 28.129s  + 0.848s
     Michael McDowell    Parsons Ford                 28.144s  + 0.863s
     Stephen Leicht      Joe Falk Chevrolet           28.155s  + 0.874s
     Mike Bliss          Humphrey Smith Toyota        28.157s  + 0.876s