NASCAR Dover: Dale Earnhardt Jr secures pole ahead of Matt Kenseth

Hendrick driver Earnhardt's 22.243-second, 161.849mph lap was the latest in the string of new track records set by the Gen-6 cars this year.

Kenseth, who has won the first two Chase events, was 0.006s shy of beat Earnhardt in his Joe Gibbs Toyota.

Even by NASCAR short-track standards, the field was incredibly close, with the top 10 cars all within 0.089s.

Ryan Newman was third for Stewart-Haas, joined on row two by Carl Edwards in the best of the Fords for Roush Fenway.

Aric Almirola and Brad Keselowski both had spells on provisional pole but ended up sharing row three, followed by Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

The race takes place on Sunday afternoon.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time     Gap
 1.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           22.243s
 2.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota             22.249s  +0.006s
 3.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       22.258s  +0.015s
 4.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            22.276s  +0.033s
 5.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   22.276s  +0.033s
 6.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                  22.278s  +0.035s
 7.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  22.292s  +0.049s
 8.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           22.313s  +0.070s
 9.  Kurt Busch          Furniture Row Chevrolet      22.315s  +0.072s
10.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               22.332s  +0.089s
11.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                  22.357s  +0.114s
12.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          22.388s  +0.145s
13.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  22.397s  +0.154s
14.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota             22.399s  +0.156s
15.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford            22.400s  +0.157s
16.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           22.407s  +0.164s
17.  AJ Allmendinger     JTG Daugherty Toyota         22.409s  +0.166s
18.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota             22.422s  +0.179s
19.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            22.424s  +0.181s
20.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           22.448s  +0.205s
21.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          22.465s  +0.222s
22.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota               22.486s  +0.243s
23.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota               22.521s  +0.278s
24.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   22.550s  +0.307s
25.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          22.673s  +0.430s
26.  Casey Mears         Germain Ford                 22.697s  +0.454s
27.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford               22.720s  +0.477s
28.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               22.747s  +0.504s
29.  Mark Martin         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       22.786s  +0.543s
30.  Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                    22.795s  +0.552s
31.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       22.848s  +0.605s
32.  JJ Yeley            Baldwin Chevrolet            22.850s  +0.607s
33.  Cole Whitt          Swan Toyota                  22.881s  +0.638s
34.  Michael McDowell    Parsons Ford                 22.947s  +0.704s
35.  Reed Sorenson       Leavine Ford                 22.975s  +0.732s
36.  Ryan Truex          Phoenix Chevrolet            22.982s  +0.739s
37.  Landon Cassill      Circle Sport Chevrolet       23.004s  +0.761s
38.  Josh Wise           Front Row Ford               23.047s  +0.804s
39.  David Reutimann     BK Toyota                    23.137s  +0.894s
40.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            23.151s  +0.908s
41.  Joe Nemecheck       NEMCO Toyota                 23.251s  +1.008s
42.  Timmy Hill          FAS Lane Ford                23.297s  +1.054s
43.  Tony Raines         Hillman Chevrolet            23.445s  +1.202s