Only four men have swept the season at NASCAR's most venerated track, and none have done so in 30 years. Daytona 500 champ Matt Kenseth will be looking to change that this weekend, and he will have the best possible starting spot to do that.
Kenseth toured the legendary 2.5-mile superspeedway in 46.781 seconds to score the eighth pole of his career. The Sprint Cup point leader will share the front row with Stewart-Haas Racing's Ryan Newman. The top-five is rounded out by Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, and Jeff Gordon.
NASCAR icon Bill Elliott of Dawsonville will start from the sixth position in the first Sprint Cup race for Turner Motorsports. It is also the first time in the 50-year history of Walmart that the retail giant has sponsored a race car, appropriately commemorated by the No. 50 emblazoned on Elliott's Chevrolet.
Completing the top-10 are Casey Mears, A.J. Allmendinger, Brad Keselowski, and Marcos Ambrose. The other Georgian in the field, defending event champion David Ragan of Unadilla, will start 27th.
Defending Spint Cup champion Tony Stewart had turned the second-fastest lap, but his time was disallowed because of an open cooling hose into the cockpit. The three-time Coke Zero 400 champ will roll off from 42nd.
Visit Jayski.com for the full 43-car starting grid.