(Sports Network) - Travis Kvapil won his first career pole in the Sprint Cup Series on Saturday, taking the top starting spot for the Amp Energy 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway. The No.28 Yates Racing Ford driver rounded the 2.66-mile oval in 51.109 seconds (187.364 m.p.h.). Kvapil's first pole came in his 100th start.

"I'm just really proud of everybody at Yates Racing," Kvapil said. "This is a brand-new car. It rolled off the truck, and its first lap was yesterday and it was fast. Obviously, the Roush-Yates engines are phenomenal in plate-racing here."

Yates drivers have won four poles at Talladega in the last five years there. Elliott Sadler grabbed the top starting spot for Yates in the fall race at Talladega in 2003 and '05. David Gilliland grabbed the pole for the fall event there two years ago.

Kvapil becomes the third first-time pole winner in the series this season, joining Patrick Carpentier (New Hampshire) and Paul Menard (Daytona).

Casey Mears secured the outside pole with a qualifying time of 51.128.

Dale Earnhardt, Inc. teammates Aric Almirola (51.136) and Regan Smith (51.159) will start on the second row.

Paul Menard, also from DEI, will start fifth.

None of the 12 drivers in the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship qualified in the top-10.

The "Chase" field will start in the following order: Carl Edwards (12th), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (15th), Jeff Burton (17th), Jimmie Johnson (20th), Greg Biffle (22nd), Jeff Gordon (26th), Matt Kenseth (31st), Tony Stewart (34th), Clint Bowyer (35th), Denny Hamlin (36th), Kyle Busch (37th) and Kevin Harvick (39th).

Sam Hornish, Jr. and Patrick Carpentier failed to qualify.

Heading into Talladega, 30 points separate the top three drivers, with Johnson at the top of the standings, Edwards second and Biffle third. But no lead is protected when it comes to Talladega. In the four years of the "Chase," only once has the points leader retained the top spot after Talladega. Despite a 27th-place finish in the 2006 UAW-Ford 500, Burton remained first in the standings, but his lead was cut to just six points. Burton ended the '06 season seventh in points.

Johnson moved into the points lead after winning last Sunday at Kansas.

Hendrick Motorsports has dominated Talladega the past several years, winning five of the last seven races there. Gordon is the defending race champion. Gordon, who started 34th, ran behind Johnson with two laps to go, but got drafting help from Stewart to grab the lead from Johnson on the final lap en route to his fifth victory of the season and the 80th of his Sprint Cup career. He also scored a season-sweep at Talladega in 2007.

Gordon is currently sixth in the "Chase" standings (-143). He holds the record for most restrictor-plate victories with 12, including six wins at Talladega, but has been winless in the last 34 Cup races.

Earnhardt, Jr., in his first year with Hendrick, has experienced his share of success at Talladega with five victories to his credit, all of them coming with Dale Earnhardt Inc. However, Earnhardt, Jr. has not won there in four years. In fact, he's scored just two top-10 finishes in the last seven races at Talladega.

Earnhardt, Jr. blew a right-rear tire during Friday's final practice, triggering a six-car pileup on the backstretch. He led a pack of cars when his tire exploded. The No.88 Chevrolet driver spun and smacked the wall, severely damaging the rear end of his car. David Gilliland was running right behind Earnhardt, Jr. when the incident occurred. Gilliland also sustained heavy damage to his No.38 Ford.

Kasey Kahne, David Reutimann, Bowyer and Stewart were also involved in the accident.

Stewart was the only driver involved who did not have to use his backup car for the remainder of the weekend. Stewart made slight contact with Gilliland and Kahne, but damage on his No.20 Toyota was repairable.

The green flag is scheduled to drop Sunday around 2 p.m. (et).







































































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