Carl Edwards is on a mission to score his first race win of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season with his second-straight pole of the year coming at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Edwards took his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to the top of the speed charts with a lap at 205.991 km/h (127.997 mph) on the ‘World’s Fastest Half-Mile’.
“Just awesome,” said the three-time Bristol winner.
“This place is really complicated and my guys did a good job making the car drive well on all different segments.”
In further good news for the JGR operation, teammate and defending race winner Matt Kenseth will start alongside him in Sunday’s Food City 500.
Sitting behind was Joey Logano, followed by the rest of the Gibbs Toyotas with Denny Hamlin edging Kyle Busch.
The only major incident in the qualifying sessions came when Tony Stewart’s replacement for this event, Ty Dillon, spun in Turn 2 and collected Landon Cassill. Dillon will start 34th, while Cassill qualified 28th.
QUALIFYING: Food City 500 – Bristol Motor Speedway
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | MPH | TIME | BEHIND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Carl Edwards |  |
COMCAST BUSINESS | 127.997 | 14.991 | Leader |
| 2 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | |
Dollar General | 127.419 | 15.059 | –0.068 |
| 3 | 22 | Joey Logano |  |
AutoTrader | 127.191 | 15.086 | –0.095 |
| 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | |
FedEx Freight | 126.804 | 15.132 | –0.141 |
| 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | |
M&M’s | 126.553 | 15.162 | –0.171 |
| 6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson |  |
Lowe’s | 126.461 | 15.173 | –0.182 |
| 7 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | |
Ditech | 126.112 | 15.215 | –0.224 |
| 8 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | |
Furniture Row | 126.021 | 15.226 | –0.235 |
| 9 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | |
Bush’s Beans | 125.815 | 15.251 | –0.260 |
| 10 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | |
Advocare Ford Fusion | 125.815 | 15.251 | –0.260 |
| 11 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | |
Great Clips | 125.732 | 15.261 | –0.270 |
| 12 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | |
Miller Lite | 125.691 | 15.266 | –0.275 |
| 13 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | |
McDonald’s | 125.486 | 15.291 | –0.300 |
| 14 | 27 | Paul Menard | |
Tarkett / Menards | 125.461 | 15.294 | –0.303 |
| 15 | 3 | Austin Dillon | |
Bass Pro Shops / Ranger Boats | 125.436 | 15.297 | –0.306 |
| 16 | 13 | Casey Mears | |
GEICO | 125.420 | 15.299 | –0.308 |
| 17 | 31 | Ryan Newman | |
WIX | 125.354 | 15.307 | –0.316 |
| 18 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | |
Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire + Auto Center | 125.330 | 15.310 | –0.319 |
| 19 | 24 | Chase Elliott | |
Kelley Blue Book | 125.134 | 15.334 | –0.343 |
| 20 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | |
Nationwide | 125.052 | 15.344 | –0.353 |
| 21 | 34 | Chris Buescher | |
Love’s Travel Stops | 124.995 | 15.351 | –0.360 |
| 22 | 43 | Aric Almirola | |
Smithfield | 124.979 | 15.353 | –0.362 |
| 23 | 16 | Greg Biffle | |
Roush Performance Ford Fusion | 124.597 | 15.400 | –0.409 |
| 24 | 23 | David Ragan | |
Dr. Pepper | 124.460 | 15.417 | –0.426 |
| 25 | 42 | Kyle Larson | |
Target | 126.021 | 15.226 | –0.235 |
| 26 | 41 | Kurt Busch | |
Haas Automation / Monster Energy | 125.831 | 15.249 | –0.258 |
| 27 | 44 | Brian Scott | |
Shore Lodge | 125.773 | 15.256 | –0.265 |
| 28 | 38 | Landon Cassill | |
Snap Fitness | 125.675 | 15.268 | –0.277 |
| 29 | 7 | Regan Smith | |
APC Chevrolet | 125.642 | 15.272 | –0.281 |
| 30 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | |
Cosmo Motors | 125.592 | 15.278 | –0.287 |
| 31 | 95 | Michael McDowell | |
KLove Radio Chevrolet SS | 125.281 | 15.316 | –0.325 |
| 32 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | |
Zest Ford Fusion | 125.207 | 15.325 | –0.334 |
| 33 | 10 | Danica Patrick | |
Nature’s Bakery | 125.003 | 15.350 | –0.359 |
| 34 | 14 | Ty Dillon | |
Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats | 124.379 | 15.427 | –0.436 |
| 35 | 30 | Josh Wise | |
Curtis Key Plumbing | 124.242 | 15.444 | –0.453 |
| 36 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | |
5-Hour Energy | 124.146 | 15.456 | –0.465 |
| 37 | 32 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | |
KEEN PARTS/VISONE RV | 123.308 | 15.561 | –0.570 |
| 38 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | |
ChampionMachinery.com | 123.245 | 15.569 | –0.578 |
| 39 | 98 | Cole Whitt | |
TBA | 122.803 | 15.625 | –0.634 |
| 40 | 46 | Michael Annett | |
Pilot Flying J | 122.263 | 15.694 | –0.703 |
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