Kasey Kahne has won the pole for Saturday night's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Kahne set a track record with a qualifying speed of 181.254 miles an hour to put his Toyota in the top spot. It is the fourth straight year that the track qualifying record has been eclipsed since the Darlington Raceway surface was repaved. Kahne has won four poles in nine Sprint Cup starts at Darlington.
Ryan Newman will start second. Defending Southern 500 champion Denny Hamlin qualified third. Sprint Cup points leader Carl Edwards was fourth in qualifying.
QUALIFYING RESULTS by SPEED
Qualifying after 46 of 46 drivers:
| Pos | Sched
Qual Pos | Actual
Qual Pos | Car# | Driver | Manu | Qual Speed
(mph) | Qual Time
(seconds) | Last Practice Speed | Practice
Rank | Difference
Qual vs Prac
(mph) | Owners
Points
Rank |
| 1 | 31 | 31 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | 181.254 | 27.131 | 175.509 | 5 | 5.745 | 18 |
| 2 | 35 | 35 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevy | 180.429 | 27.255 | 176.816 | 1 | 3.613 | 8 |
| 3 | 32 | 32 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 180.132 | 27.300 | 175.516 | 4 | 4.616 | 17 |
| 4 | 34 | 34 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 179.980 | 27.323 | 176.296 | 2 | 3.684 | 1 |
| 5 | 24 | 24 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevy | 179.829 | 27.346 | 174.432 | 12 | 5.397 | 16 |
| 6 | 21 | 21 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 179.671 | 27.370 | 174.037 | 15 | 5.634 | 23 |
| 7 | 8 | 8 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | 179.448 | 27.404 | 171.399 | 34 | 8.049 | 11 |
| 8 | 30 | 30 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | 179.259 | 27.433 | 175.478 | 6 | 3.781 | 26 |
| 9 | 25 | 25 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevy | 179.108 | 27.456 | 174.674 | 11 | 4.434 | 10 |
| 10 | 10 | 10 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | 179.082 | 27.460 | 172.004 | 29 | 7.078 | 28 |
| 11 | 20 | 20 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | 179.076 | 27.461 | 173.583 | 16 | 5.493 | 19 |
| 12 | 7 | 7 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevy | 178.880 | 27.491 | 171.041 | 35 | 7.839 | 24 |
| 13 | 27 | 27 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevy | 178.588 | 27.536 | 174.892 | 9 | 3.696 | 5 |
| 14 | 19 | 19 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 178.445 | 27.558 | 173.534 | 17 | 4.911 | 3 |
| 15 | 5 | 5 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | 178.381 | 27.568 | 170.720 | 39 | 7.661 | 25 |
| 16 | 28 | 28 | 42 | Juan PabloMontoya | Chevy | 178.264 | 27.586 | 175.153 | 8 | 3.111 | 12 |
| 17 | 26 | 26 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | 178.161 | 27.602 | 174.724 | 10 | 3.437 | 21 |
| 18 | 13 | 13 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevy | 178.103 | 27.611 | 172.366 | 24 | 5.737 | 15 |
| 19 | 15 | 15 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevy | 178.038 | 27.621 | 172.445 | 22 | 5.593 | 2 |
| 20 | 29 | 29 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 177.993 | 27.628 | 175.178 | 7 | 2.815 | 9 |
| 21 | 40 | 40 | 38 | Travis Kvapil (i) | Ford | 177.987 | 27.629 | 170.910 | 36 | 7.077 | 39-IN |
| 22 | 14 | 14 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 177.955 | 27.634 | 172.414 | 23 | 5.541 | 14 |
| 23 | 22 | 22 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevy | 177.871 | 27.647 | 174.235 | 14 | 3.636 | 29 |
| 24 | 9 | 9 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevy | 177.826 | 27.654 | 171.998 | 30 | 5.828 | 20 |
| 25 | 33 | 33 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | 177.755 | 27.665 | 175.654 | 3 | 2.101 | 6 |
| 26 | 23 | 23 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevy | 177.723 | 27.670 | 174.358 | 13 | 3.365 | 7 |
| 27 | 6 | 6 | 09 | Landon Cassill (i) | Chevy | 177.672 | 27.678 | 170.768 | 38 | 6.904 | 31 |
| 28 | 11 | 11 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevy | 177.614 | 27.687 | 172.209 | 27 | 5.405 | 13 |
| 29 | 16 | 16 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 177.083 | 27.770 | 172.475 | 21 | 4.608 | 22 |
| 30 | 17 | 17 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevy | 176.720 | 27.827 | 172.541 | 20 | 4.179 | 4 |
| 31 | 46 | 45 | 46 | J.J. Yeley | Chevy | 176.682 | 27.833 | 173.045 | 18 | 3.637 | 40-IN |
| 32 | 12 | 12 | 13 | Casey Mears | Toyota | 176.391 | 27.879 | 172.233 | 26 | 4.158 | 36 |
| 33 | 44 | 44 | 50 | T.J. Bell (i) | Toyota | 176.239 | 27.903 | 172.185 | 28 | 4.054 | 0-IN |
| 34 | 42 | 41 | 60 | Mike Skinner (i) | Toyota | 176.201 | 27.909 | 171.926 | 32 | 4.275 | 45-IN |
| 35 | 41 | 42 | 37 | Tony Raines | Ford | 176.189 | 27.911 | 171.788 | 33 | 4.401 | 38-IN |
| 36 | 18 | 18 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | 176.125 | 27.921 | 172.930 | 19 | 3.195 | 27 |
| 37 | 2 | 2 | 34 | David Gilliland | Ford | 175.472 | 28.025 | 168.984 | 43 | 6.488 | 30 |
| 38 | 43 | 43 | 30 | David Stremme | Chevy | 175.409 | 28.035 | 171.932 | 31 | 3.477 | 46-IN |
| 39 | 45 | 46 | 66 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | 175.353 | 28.044 | 172.287 | 25 | 3.066 | 41-IN |
| 40 | 4 | 4 | 32 | Ken Schrader | Ford | 175.291 | 28.054 | 169.783 | 41 | 5.508 | 35 |
| 41 | 38 | 38 | 87 | Joe Nemechek (i) | Toyota | 174.600 | 28.165 | 170.271 | 40 | 4.329 | 43-IN |
| 42 | 3 | 3 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevy | 174.229 | 28.225 | 169.310 | 42 | 4.919 | 34 |
| 43 | 1 | 1 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | 174.167 | 28.325 | 0.000 | 46 | 174.167 | 33 |
| 44 | 39 | 39 | 81 | Scott Riggs (i) | Chevy | 174.093 | 28.247 | 170.780 | 37 | 3.313 | 0-DNQ |
| 45 | 36 | 36 | 71 | Andy Lally | Ford | 171.866 | 28.613 | 166.919 | 45 | 4.947 | 37-DNQ |
| 46 | 37 | 37 | 92 | Brian Keselowski | Dodge | 170.892 | 28.776 | 167.779 | 44 | 3.113 | 47-DNQ |
