Greg Biffle, seen here from earlier this season, put his car on the pole for Saturday night's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
After a stellar qualifying run, Jimmie Johnson said there was some speed left in Darlington Raceway — and Greg Biffle found it.
Biffle toured the 1.366-mile Lady in Black in 27.281 seconds (180.2557 mph) to win the pole for Saturday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500, beating second-place starter Johnson and third-place Kasey Kahne by .105 seconds.
Biffle, who posted back-to-back wins at Darlington in 2005 and 2006, snagged his second Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his second at the Lady in Black and the 11th of his career.
“This is what a racecar driver looks forward to, showing up every weekend and having a really fast car to drive,” said Biffle, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series leader. “They’re making me look good so far.
“It was a pretty uneventful lap. The car just had a ton of grip — it stuck to the racetrack really, really well. I felt like I was a little bit light down in turns 1 and 2 — I should have been a little bit quicker down there — but I got a lot out of it in 3 and 4, so it was a great lap.”
Johnson and Kahne ran identical speeds (179.566 mph), with Johnson winning the front-row starting spot from his Hendrick Motorsports teammate on an owner points tiebreaker. Ryan Newman (179.461 mph) qualified fourth, followed by Kyle Busch (179.448 mph).
Johnson said his car was comfortable — perhaps too much so in Turns 3 and 4 of the qualifying lap.
“I knew I left a little time on the table down there, and Greg went out and found it,” Johnson said.
Danica Patrick qualified 38th at 175.497 mph for her Cup debut at Darlington, picking up approximately .75 seconds from her fastest lap in practice. The Southern 500 will be Patrick’s second Cup race and her first in a Cup car with an open motor.
But it’s all part of the trial-by-fire approach to a 10-race schedule she developed with team owner Tony Stewart.
“We definitely struggled in the Cup car (in practice),” Patrick said. “But this was the plan, to do it difficult, and this is one of the places that would really challenge me . . .
“I felt better in qualifying. I ran three quarters of a second quicker than I did in practice. For me, usually if I stink during practice, I don’t usually find a lot in qualifying.”
Scott Riggs, Michael McDowell, Stephen Leicht and Mike Bliss failed to qualify for the 43-car field.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Darlington Raceway – Darlington, SC
Bojangles Southern 500 Qualifying – May 11, 2012
1 16 Greg Biffle 27.281 180.257
2 48 Jimmie Johnson 27.386 179.566
3 5 Kasey Kahne 27.386 179.566
4 39 Ryan Newman 27.402 179.461
5 18 Kyle Busch 27.404 179.448
6 56 Martin Truex Jr. 27.424 179.317
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8 11 Denny Hamlin 27.444 179.187
9 78 Regan Smith 27.451 179.141
10 31 Jeff Burton 27.458 179.095
11 1 Jamie McMurray 27.459 179.089
12 24 Jeff Gordon 27.461 179.076
13 43 Aric Almirola 27.474 178.991
14 27 Paul Menard 27.484 178.926
15 2 Brad Keselowski 27.500 178.822
16 22 AJ Allmendinger 27.506 178.783
17 14 Tony Stewart 27.515 178.724
18 55 Mark Martin 27.551 178.491
19 17 Matt Kenseth 27.592 178.226
20 83 Landon Cassill 27.613 178.090
21 20 Joey Logano 27.630 177.980
22 47 Bobby Labonte 27.631 177.974
23 29 Kevin Harvick 27.635 177.948
24 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 27.642 177.903
25 51 Kurt Busch 27.651 177.845
26 15 Clint Bowyer 27.661 177.781
27 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 27.735 177.307
28 9 Marcos Ambrose 27.794 176.930
29 79 Scott Speed 27.802 176.879
30 26 Josh Wise 27.823 176.746
31 13 Casey Mears 27.825 176.733
32 30 David Stremme 27.845 176.606
33 73 Travis Kvapil 27.847 176.594
34 36 Dave Blaney 27.857 176.530
35 52 Mike Skinner 27.957 175.899
36 38 David Gilliland 27.978 175.767
37 34 David Ragan 28.004 175.603
38 10 Danica Patrick 28.021 175.497
39 74 Cole Whitt 28.021 175.497
40 87 Joe Nemechek 28.097 175.022
41 93 David Reutimann Owner Points
42 32 Reed Sorenson Owner Points
43 49 JJ Yeley 28.125 174.848
Did Not Qualify:Scott Riggs, Michael McDowell, Stephen Leicht, Mike Bliss
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