Brad Keselowski has scored the pole position at the Southern 500 at historical Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.

With two races left before the start of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Keselowski set the fastest lap in what could be a momentum builder.

It was Keselowski’s first pole of the season, first at Darlington and the ninth of his career.

“For my team, we haven’t had, to date I would say, as strong of a year as what we had last year, and I think that kind of wears on everybody a little bit, including myself,” said Keselowski.

“But I feel like we have positive momentum, and you always want to see results that showcase that, and this is one of those results that I feel like we can carry for the next 12 weeks.

“I’m just really pleased with today’s qualifying effort and the momentum we’re carrying.”

With tyre degradation a big issue at Darlington, Busch set the fast speed of the time trials in the first round, running 288.88km/h to edge Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by .017 seconds. Through each subsequent round, the top speeds declined as tyre wear came into play. Keselowski leading both the second and final sessions, the latter of which determines the pole winner.

Kevin Harvick, last year’s winner from the pole, qualified third followed by Joey Logano and Jeff Gordon.

Trying to squeeze enough speed out of her Chevrolet, Danica Patrick tagged the outside wall during her final run in the first round, forcing the team to roll out a backup car. Accordingly, Patrick will start from the rear of the field on Sunday.

Fast in Friday’s practice, Greg Biffle also sustained damage to his 16 Ford after contact with the wall in the second round. Biffle was credited with a 24th-place qualifying effort, and his team opted to try to repair the car, rather than resorting to a backup.

Josh Wise, Timmy Hill and Travis Kvapil failed to make the 43-car field.

VIDEO: Keselowski talks about his pole

QUALIFYING: Bojangles’Southern 500 – Darlington Raceway

POS.	CAR #	DRIVER	MANUFACTURER	SPONSOR	MPH	TIME	GAP
1	2	Brad Keselowski		Miller High Life	178.874	27.492	Leader
2	41	Kurt Busch		Haas Automation	177.588	27.691	–0.199
3	4	Kevin Harvick		Budweiser / Jimmy John’s	177.415	27.718	–0.226
4	22	Joey Logano		Shell Pennzoil	177.319	27.733	–0.241
5	24	Jeff Gordon		3M	177.192	27.753	–0.261
6	11	Denny Hamlin		Sport Clips	176.905	27.798	–0.306
7	78	Martin Truex Jr		Furniture Row/Visser Precision	176.848	27.807	–0.315
8	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr		Cargill Ford Fusion	176.670	27.835	–0.343
9	21	Ryan Blaney		Snap-On Tools	176.195	27.910	–0.418
10	18	Kyle Busch		M&M’s Crispy	176.075	27.929	–0.437
11	43	Aric Almirola		STP	175.962	27.947	–0.455
12	27	Paul Menard		Moen / Menards	175.297	28.053	–0.561
13	19	Carl Edwards		Arris	177.511	27.703	–0.211
14	20	Matt Kenseth		Dollar General	177.217	27.749	–0.257
15	5	Kasey Kahne		HendrickRideAlong.com	177.204	27.751	–0.259
16	42	Kyle Larson		Mello Yello	177.134	27.762	–0.270
17	14	Tony Stewart		Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1	177.045	27.776	–0.284
18	6	Trevor Bayne		Advocare Ford Fusion	177.013	27.781	–0.289
19	48	Jimmie Johnson		Lowe’s	176.860	27.805	–0.313
20	1	Jamie McMurray		McDonald’s/Cessna	176.568	27.851	–0.359
21	55	David Ragan		Ol’ Aaron’s Dream Machine	176.264	27.899	–0.407
22	25	Chase Elliott		NAPA Auto Parts	176.119	27.922	–0.430
23	31	Ryan Newman		Caterpillar	175.943	27.950	–0.458
24	16	Greg Biffle		Ortho Ford Fusion	153.498	32.037	–4.545
25	83	Matt DiBenedetto		Cosmo Motors	177.339	27.730	–0.238
26	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr		Valvoline	177.000	27.783	–0.291
27	51	Justin Allgaier		Brandt	177.000	27.783	–0.291
28	15	Clint Bowyer		Buddy Baker Tribute Toyota Camry	176.714	27.828	–0.336
29	3	Austin Dillon		American Ethanol	176.682	27.833	–0.341
30	10	Danica Patrick		GoDaddy	176.613	27.844	–0.352
31	40	Landon Cassill		#Snap Honor	176.594	27.847	–0.355
32	13	Casey Mears		No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS	176.511	27.860	–0.368
33	9	Sam Hornish Jr		Winn Dixie	176.372	27.882	–0.390
34	47	AJ Allmendinger		Kroger/House-Autry	176.144	27.918	–0.426
35	7	Alex Bowman		Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet	176.025	27.937	–0.445
36	26	J.J. Yeley		Beds For Kids	175.981	27.944	–0.452
37	35	Cole Whitt		Speed Stick	175.159	28.075	–0.583
38	38	David Gilliland		Love’s Travel Stops	174.680	28.152	–0.660
39	46	Michael Annett		Pilot Flying J	174.624	28.161	–0.669
40	34	Brett Moffitt		Dockside	174.117	28.243	–0.751
41	23	Jeb Burton		Estes	173.970	28.267	–0.775
42	33	Mike Bliss		Little Joe’s Auto Chevrolet SS	172.954	28.433	–0.941
43	98	T.J. Bell		Premium Motorsports	172.167	28.563	–1.071

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