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Greg Biffle claims Bristol Sprint Cup pole

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Greg Biffle claimed pole position for Sunday's race at Bristol

The Roush Fenway driver carried on his early season hot streak, claiming his 10th career pole position and his fourth top-10 start of the year in as many races, having finished third in the first three events of 2012.

Biffle beat the previous benchmark set by last year's autumn winner at Bristol Brad Keselowski, setting a lap of 15.324 seconds at an average speed of 125.215 mph.

Penske's AJ Allmendinger got within one thousandth of a second of Biffle's time, locking up his first front row start of the season.

"Man I don't know, I've got to pinch myself, I think I'm dreaming," said Biffle, who also secured a place in next year's Shootout thanks to his first pole of the season.

"Everything's going well right now. I've got a lot of support from my team, the guys at the shop and [crew chief] Matt Puccia is doing a great job... I'm still focused and dedicated and giving 100 per cent, just having a great time right now."

Stewart-Haas' Ryan Newman, the track-record holder, was third fastest ahead of five-time Bristol winner Jeff Gordon while Allmendinger's team-mate Keselowski rounded out the fastest five.

Biffle's team-mate Carl Edwards led practice earlier but could not manage better than eighth in a closely fought session, where the top-nine qualifiers were split by less than a tenth of a second in the close confines of the half-mile concrete coliseum.

Five-time event winner Kyle Busch saved a sideways moment starting his qualifying run to take 13th on the grid after struggling for balance earlier in practice.

Reigning champion and last week's winner Tony Stewart, who struggled at concrete tracks at the end of last year, qualified 23rd while Cup returnee Brian Vickers was 25th, taking over from Mark Martin in Michael Waltrip's #55 Toyota.

Timmy Hill was the only non-qualifier of the day, while Robby Gordon withdrew from the event following electrical issues on his car.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time     Gap
 1.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            15.324s
 2.  AJ Allmendinger     Penske Dodge                 15.325s  + 0.001s
 3.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-HaasChevrolet        15.331s  + 0.007s
 4.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           15.340s  + 0.016s
 5.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                 15.367s  + 0.043s
 6.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet      15.373s  + 0.049s
 7.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   15.385s  + 0.061s
 8.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            15.389s  + 0.065s
 9.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                 15.392s  + 0.068s
10.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           15.430s  + 0.106s
11.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          15.432s  + 0.108s
12.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   15.433s  + 0.109s
13.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                 15.452s  + 0.128s
14.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          15.461s  + 0.137s
15.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               15.461s  + 0.137s
16.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota               15.474s  + 0.150s
17.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  15.480s  + 0.156s
18.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           15.491s  + 0.167s
19.  David Reutimann     Baldwin Chevrolet            15.491s  + 0.167s
20.  Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                 15.495s  + 0.171s
21.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford            15.516s  + 0.192s
22.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           15.532s  + 0.208s
23.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-HaasChevrolet        15.541s  + 0.217s
24.  Casey Mears         Germain Ford                 15.547s  + 0.223s
25.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota               15.547s  + 0.223s
26.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               15.566s  + 0.242s
27.  Kurt Busch          Chevrolet                    15.577s  + 0.253s
28.  David Stremme       Inception Toyota             15.589s  + 0.265s
29.  Landon Cassill      BK Toyota                    15.594s  + 0.270s
30.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  15.601s  + 0.277s
31.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford               15.604s  + 0.280s
32.  Brendan Gaughan     Childress Chevrolet          15.617s  + 0.293s
33.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          15.628s  + 0.304s
34.  Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                    15.638s  + 0.314s
35.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            15.646s  + 0.322s
36.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota         15.648s  + 0.324s
37.  Josh Wise           Front Row Ford               15.679s  + 0.355s
38.  Reed Sorenson       Turn One Chevrolet           15.691s  + 0.367s
39.  Michael McDowell    Parsons Ford                 15.732s  + 0.408s
40.  JJ Yeley            Robinson-Blakeney Toyota     15.750s  + 0.426s
41.  Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                 15.765s  + 0.441s
42.  Ken Schrader        FAS Lane Ford                15.907s  + 0.583s
43.  Scott Riggs         R3 Chevrolet                 15.809s  + 0.485s

Did not qualify:

     Timmy Hill          Rick Ware/Max Q Ford         15.953s  + 0.629s

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