Carl Edwards has ended a pole drought that stretched 18 months in setting the fastest time for the 5-Hour Energy 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

It was also his first pole for Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, with a speed of 217.5254km (135.164 mph), his first pole at the track and 14th of his career.

“I’ve struggled at this race track, so this is big for me personally,” said Edwards.

“Everybody at JGR has been working so hard. These Toyotas are fast.”

Joey Logano was second-fastest in the Team Penske Ford. He set exactly the same time as David Ragan, but got the spot based on team owners’ standings.

Last week’s winner at Kentucky Speedway, Kyle Busch, will start fourth, while another JGR Toyota in the hands of Denny Hamlin will start fifth.

Ryan Blaney, who failed to qualify the part-time Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford the past two weekends because of qualifying rainouts, easily made the field this week in 16th.

Reed Sorenson and the Premium Motorsports Chevrolet failed to qualify for the 43-car field for the fifth time this season.

VIDEO: Edwards talks about his pole

QUALIFYING: 5-Hour Energy 301 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway

POS.	CAR #	DRIVER	MANUFACTURER	SPONSOR	MPH	BEST TIME	BEHIND
1	19	Carl Edwards		Sport Clips	135.164	28.179	Leader
2	22	Joey Logano		Shell Pennzoil	135.021	28.209	–0.030
3	55	David Ragan		Aaron’s Dream Machine	135.021	28.209	–0.030
4	18	Kyle Busch		Interstate Batteries	134.725	28.271	–0.092
5	11	Denny Hamlin		FedEx Freight	134.601	28.297	–0.118
6	41	Kurt Busch		Haas Automation	134.596	28.298	–0.119
7	48	Jimmie Johnson		Lowe’s	134.501	28.318	–0.139
8	20	Matt Kenseth		Dollar General	134.430	28.333	–0.154
9	5	Kasey Kahne		Great Clips	134.397	28.340	–0.161
10	2	Brad Keselowski		Miller Lite	134.023	28.419	–0.240
11	1	Jamie McMurray		McDonald’s/Cessna	133.999	28.424	–0.245
12	4	Kevin Harvick		Jimmy John’s/ Budweiser	133.591	28.511	–0.332
13	40	Landon Cassill		Interstate Moving Services/Precon Marine Inc.	134.174	28.387	–0.208
14	16	Greg Biffle		Safety-Kleen Ford Fusion	134.075	28.408	–0.229
15	78	Martin Truex Jr		Furniture Row/Visser Precision	134.042	28.415	–0.236
16	21	Ryan Blaney		SKF	134.009	28.422	–0.243
17	42	Kyle Larson		Target	133.802	28.466	–0.287
18	15	Clint Bowyer		5-Hour Energy	133.788	28.469	–0.290
19	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr		Nationwide	133.464	28.538	–0.359
20	10	Danica Patrick		GoDaddy	133.450	28.541	–0.362
21	13	Casey Mears		No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS	133.403	28.551	–0.372
22	47	AJ Allmendinger		Better Than Bouillon	133.184	28.598	–0.419
23	24	Jeff Gordon		AARP MEMBER ADVANTAGES	133.068	28.623	–0.444
24	3	Austin Dillon		Dow	132.924	28.654	–0.475
25	14	Tony Stewart		Mobil 1	132.877	28.664	–0.485
26	31	Ryan Newman		Quicken Loans	132.715	28.699	–0.520
27	9	Sam Hornish Jr		Shaws/Smithfield	132.623	28.719	–0.540
28	27	Paul Menard		Richmond/Menards	132.609	28.722	–0.543
29	43	Aric Almirola		Smithfield	132.531	28.739	–0.560
30	51	Justin Allgaier		Brandt	132.526	28.740	–0.561
31	6	Trevor Bayne		Advocare Ford Fusion	132.388	28.770	–0.591
32	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr		Fastenal Ford Fusion	132.172	28.817	–0.638
33	35	Cole Whitt		Taco Bell	132.103	28.832	–0.653
34	34	Brett Moffitt		Dockside Logistics	131.656	28.930	–0.751
35	83	Matt DiBenedetto		Burger King	131.370	28.993	–0.814
36	26	Jeb Burton		Maxim Fantasy Sports	130.972	29.081	–0.902
37	38	David Gilliland		MDS	130.765	29.127	–0.948
38	46	Michael Annett		Pilot Flying J	130.300	29.231	–1.052
39	23	J.J. Yeley		Dr. Pepper	129.384	29.438	–1.259
40	7	Alex Bowman		Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet	129.103	29.502	–1.323
41	32	Eddie MacDonald		Draftdemons.com	128.994	29.527	–1.348
42	33	Derek White		Braille Battery/Grafoid	126.165	30.189	–2.010
43	98	Timmy Hill		Residence Inn	102.022	37.333	–9.154

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