Stewart snags Talladega pole for Nationwide race

Amid all the talk of his future, Tony Stewart came to Talladega Superspeedway and went back to work, winning the pole for Saturday's Aaron's 312 Nationwide Series race.

Stewart's lap of 185.308 mph earned him his second pole of the Nationwide Series season. The other came in the season-opening race at Daytona, which he won. Stewart also won the following week at California.

• Video: Stewart wins pole

"It was four times scarier than the lap at Daytona qualifying. I told Dave Rogers [crew chief] that I was scared to hold it wide open, but I was able to do that and luckily we got on the pole," Stewart said jokingly. "I'm just kidding, it was easy -- you guys all know and you've done this long enough to know that the wrong guy is in here talking about it right now. It should be Dave Rogers or the crew guys.

"The hardest thing we have to do as drivers here [Friday] is shift three times and that's literally the hardest thing we have to do."

Mike Bliss will start second after his lap of 185.061. He will try to continue his two-race streak of strong runs after joining owner James Finch in the No. 1 Chevrolet three races ago.

Jason Leffler will start third, followed by Dario Franchitti and Brad Keselowski.

Points leader Clint Bowyer will start sixth.

It was Stewart's fifth career pole in the Nationwide Series. He has never won at Talladega in the Nationwide or Cup Series. In five Nationwide starts there, his has just one top-five -- a second-place finish behind Bobby Labonte a year ago.

He does, however, have six second-place finishes in the Cup Series. He's hoping that's the side that will show up on Saturday.

"I'm really consistent," Stewart said. "It's all about consistency. You don't have to be great -- you just have to be consistent. So much of this, especially at this track, is based on partners and who you are around. You can run in the top two, but you've got to work hard to get yourself in that position."