Martin edges Truex for Richmond pole

Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 Kellogg's/Carquest Chevrolet, wins his sixth pole of the 2009 season

Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

With a lap at 126.808 mph (21.292 seconds), Mark Martin claimed his sixth pole of the season Friday at Richmond International Raceway. Currently 10th in the Cup standings, with a 69-point lead over 13th place Brian Vickers, Martin will lead the field to the green flag in Saturday's Chevy Rock & Roll 400.

Martin matched his career best season for poles, set 20 years ago in 1989, and it was his fourth on the 0.75-mile oval. It also was the 47th pole position of his career.

Martin edged Martin Truex Jr. (126.731 mph) for the top spot giving Chevy a 1-2 start in, you guessed it, a Chevy sponsored race. Denny Hamlin (126.630 mph) qualified third, followed by Jimmie Johnson (126.541 mph) and Kasey Kahne (126.452 mph). Vickers, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch (14th in points and 37 behind 12th place Matt Kenseth), Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards will start from the sixth through 10th spots, respectively.

"This is awesome," said Martin, who earned a head start on securing one of the 12 Chase positions. "The car's great in race trim, too. We had a pretty good car in Atlanta [last week], and I went out and qualified, and I felt a lot of pressure to not mess up. So when qualifying was over, I felt I had been a tad conservative.

"Friday night, when I went out to qualify, I had the confidence in the car from practice, and I knew what was riding on it, and I felt like it was worth the risk to go out there and try to get it all. … I'll rest easy until Saturday night. It was a little better than I expected."

Results

+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie