Hampton, GA (Best E Casino) - Greg Biffle edged Kurt Busch for the pole in Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500 qualifying at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, the seventh race of the 10-race "Chase for the Nextel Cup." The No.16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford driver circled the fast 1.54-mile circuit in 28.807 seconds (192.453 m.p.h.).
The pole victory was Biffle's first of the season and fourth of his "Cup" career. His last pole was in May 2006 at Richmond.
"These guys are giving me great race cars," said Biffle. "I probably left a little bit out there because I wanted to make sure my car was on the bottom. the track had a lot of grip."
Starting alongside Biffle will be the only "Chase" driver in the top-five - Busch, who posted a second-best time of 28.811 seconds.
Dale Jarrett (28.927) and Kasey Kahne (28.936) will make up row two.
The remainder of the "Chase" field will start in the following order: Jimmie Johnson (sixth), Jeff Gordon (eighth), Carl Edwards (16th), Matt Kenseth (17th), Denny Hamlin (18th), Kyle Busch (19th), Martin Truex Jr. (20th), Clint Bowyer (26th), Jeff Burton (28th), Tony Stewart (30th) and Kevin Harvick (34th).
"The car had good balance, we just didn't pick up any speed (from practice)," said Johnson.
Gordon brings a 53-point lead over Johnson and 115-point lead over Bowyer to the AMS.
In the six "Chase" events to date, Gordon has won twice (Talladega, Lowe's) and collected five top-fives. His worst finish in the "Chase" was a still respectable 11th place at Dover.
Johnson is coming off a win last week at Martinsville. It was his third consecutive win at the half-mile short track that used to be Gordon's bailiwick. Johnson has three top-fives in the "Chase," but two 14th-place finishes, at Dover and Lowe's, have left him with a sizeable deficit to overcome.
Johnson was the winner at AMS in March where he led 135 of 325 laps en route to a 1.311-second victory.
The only wild card that could possibly ruin the Hendrick Motorsports Championship march is if Bowyer and his No.07 Richard Childress Racing can come up with a "miracle."
Following a ninth-place finish at Martinsville, his best ever on the flat half mile track, he sits 115 points behind Gordon.
"We were just hoping that we could be within a hundred points of (Gordon and Johnson) coming out of Charlotte and here, because we know they 'own' these two places," said Gil Martin, Bowyer's crew chief after Martinsville.
"I'm really enjoying our situation where we're at - it's fun," said Bowyer. "I'm really proud of the way we've been able to step up our program. It's neat to see how far we've come in just a few races."
The race is scheduled to drop the green flag on Sunday at 2 p.m. (et).
