(Sports Network) - Carl Edwards' winning momentum during the month of August continued Friday as he captured the pole for the Sharpie 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The No.60 Roush Fenway Racing driver circled the 0.533-mile, high-banked oval in 15.746 seconds (121.860 m.p.h.). Edwards recorded his first NASCAR (web|news) Sprint Cup Series pole of the season and the fourth of his career. It was his first pole at Bristol.

"That's cool," Edwards said. "We're going to be in the Budweiser Shootout. I honestly didn't expect to have this be a place where I could sit on the pole, just an awesome car."

Edwards should secure the second position in the championship "Chase" standings after Bristol. Edwards is currently second in points, and trails leader Kyle Busch by 222 markers. If he finishes 25th or better, regardless of any other driver's performance, he's in. Despite five victories for the year, Edwards has 40 bonus points since he was deducted 10 points for a rules infraction after winning at Las Vegas earlier this year.

He has won two of the last three races, including last Sunday's 3M Performance at Michigan.

Edwards is also the defending champion of the Sharpie 500.

David Reutimann will start on the outside pole after posting a time of 15.835 seconds.

Jeff Gordon (15.842) and rookie Regan Smith (15.847) will make up row two.

Other drivers of note and their starting positions: Kevin Harvick (sixth), Busch (ninth), Kasey Kahne (13th), Greg Biffle (14th), Jeff Burton (18th), Denny Hamlin (21st), Clint Bowyer (22nd), Matt Kenseth (25th), David Ragan (27th), Tony Stewart (28th), Jimmie Johnson (34th) and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (40th).

Two-time defending series champion Johnson, currently third in points, will secure his spot in the "Chase" at Bristol if he records a top-five finish there.

Fourth-place Earnhardt, Jr. can clinch at Bristol if he wins the Sharpie 500 and leads the most laps. The same clinching scenario applies for fifth- place Burton as does Earnhardt, Jr. Burton won this year's spring race at Bristol.

Gordon, Kahne and Hamlin each dropped three positions in the standings after disappointing finishes last weekend at Michigan. All three drivers failed to finish the race. Gordon fell to ninth in points, Kahne to 11th and Hamlin to 12th.

Gordon is just 82 points ahead of 14th-place Ragan. Gordon has yet to win this season. His last trip to Victory Lane was 38 races ago in October 2007 at Charlotte. Gordon and Kurt Busch lead all active drivers with five victories at Bristol.

Hamlin led in the closing laps at Bristol earlier this year, but a fuel pickup problem prevented him from capturing the victory. The Food City 500 concluded with a green-white-checkered finish. Hamlin had a good restart, but suddenly slowed as Burton flew past him. Kevin Harvick and Bowyer then grabbed the second and third spots from Hamlin as the Richard Childress Racing trio took the checkered flag one-two-three.

Bill Elliott was the fastest among those drivers required to qualify on time. Elliott drove the No.21 Ford for the Wood Brothers to a fifth-place qualifying run. Ken Schrader will start seventh as replacement driver of the No.96 Toyota for Hall of Fame Racing. Schrader also had to qualify on time.

Jeff Green, Patrick Carpentier and Johnny Sauter are those drivers who failed to qualify.

The green flag is scheduled to drop Saturday night around 8 p.m. (et).





















































































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