Kvapil gives Yates the pole; DEI strong in 'Dega quals

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- In a qualifying session that saw none of the Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers crack the top 10, Travis Kvapil put his No. 28 Yates Racing Ford on the pole for Sunday's AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Kvapil covered the 2.66-mile distance at the restrictor-plate racetrack in 51.109 seconds (187.364 mph) Saturday (watch video) to edge Casey Mears (187.295 mph) for the top spot.

Amp Energy 500

Race Lineup

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Travis Kvapil	Ford
2.	Casey Mears	Chevrolet
3.	Aric Almirola	Chevrolet
4.	Regan Smith	Chevrolet
5.	Paul Menard	Chevrolet
6.	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet
7.	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet
8.	Tony Raines	Chevrolet
9.	Brian Vickers	Toyota
10.	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet

• Lineup | Videos | Photos

"This is a place that's really special to the Yates family and my crew chief, Todd Parrott, loves coming here," Kvapil said. "It's awful special. There are a lot of [No.] 28 fans in the Talladega area, so it's pretty cool that we can come out here and get my first pole and give those 28 fans something to cheer about."

There's also a lot of Earnhardt fans in the area, and the loyal crowd has had little to cheer about since DEI reeled off six wins in seven races at Talladega from 2001 to 2004. Aric Almirola (187.265 mph) and Regan Smith (187.181 mph) qualified third and fourth, respectively, as all four Dale Earnhardt Inc. drivers will start in the top 10 (Paul Menard claimed the fifth spot and Martin Truex Jr. the 10th).

"I think it says a great deal about our program and where we are at Dale Earnhardt Inc.," DEI president Max Siegel said. "To also put three cars inside the top five, including a pair of rookie drivers with Aric and Regan, that really says a great deal about the future of our programs and where we are headed as a company."

Carl Edwards, second in the championship standings, will start 12th as the highest Chase competitor in the field. Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 15th (watch video) but will start from the rear of the field on Sunday because of an engine change after Friday's first practice session.

Kvapil spent a substantial portion of Friday's practice on qualifying runs, but said he won't have to change much on the car as the race progresses.

"As far as what we've got to do to make it race, basically just pull the tape off it, and we're good to go," said Kvapil, who won his first career pole for his 100th Cup start. "We worked a little harder on qualifying [Friday] than most teams that were locked in the top 35, but we knew we had a shot at possibly getting the pole, so we wanted to take advantage of that.

"We did go out and get in the draft and did a good race-type run, and it seemed to handle just fine. Really, the way the track is so smooth, there's not much of a handling issue, so, truthfully, all we've got to do is pull that tape off and we're good to go." (Continued)