Kansas NASCAR: Brad Keselowski beats Carl Edwards to pole

Keselowski had set the pace in Friday's earlier practice session as well as the first round of qualifying, and edged out Joe Gibbs Racing's Edwards by 0.007 seconds with a best lap of 27.621s around the 1.5-mile circuit.

Edwards' team-mate Kyle Busch and Stewart-Haas Racing's Kevin Harvick will share the second row ahead of Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr.

Ryan Blaney - who set the pace in round two of qualifying - was the best-placed of those not in contention for the Cup in eighth, with Greg Biffle the only other non-Chase driver to reach the final round of qualifying in 12th.

Points leader Joey Logano failed to make the cut for round three and will start Sunday's race from 14th, while Dale Earnhardt Jr was the only other Chase driver to miss out on the pole shootout and will start a place further back in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Along with Ryan Newman, the pair had both flirted with danger in the opening round of qualifying before eventually setting times good enough to join their rivals in the second phase.

Austin Dillon, who had set the second-fastest time in practice, was the biggest casualty in round one after qualifying in 25th.

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