DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Clint Bowyer survived a scare from Greg Biffle to win the first NASCAR Nextel Cup pole position of his career Friday at Darlington Raceway.
The 20th driver to make a qualifying attempt for tonight's Dodge Avenger 500, Bowyer turned a lap in 29.806 seconds (164.987 mph) at the 1.366-mile speedway. Biffle, the last among 49 drivers who attempted to make the field, was .02 seconds slower than the polesitter (164.876 mph).
Jamie McMurray (164.430 mph) qualified third, followed by Carl Edwards (164.314 mph) and Kasey Kahne (164.073 mph). Kenny Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Ken Schrader, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon will start from positions six through 10. "I was a little nervous going into qualifying," said Bowyer, who had scraped the wall with his No. 07 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet several times during practice earlier in the day. "I didn't know quite how it was going to be. (The car) was a little bit free off (Turn) 4 coming to the green, and I thought, 'Oh, boy, what do we do when get down to Turn 1? Do we go for it or not?' Fortunately, it stuck, and I was able to go pretty good."
Thanks to Biffle, McMurray and Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing claimed the second, third and fourth spots, a major departure from the first four Car of Tomorrow races.
