#17-Matt Kenseth won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway with a Track Record lap of 179.514mph for his 1st pole of 2009 and 4th of his career and first in 125 races, last pole was at Kansas in Oct 2005. The pole is the first for Ford of 2009. #24-Gordon will start 2nd, followed by #39-Newman, #77-Hornish Jr., #20-Logano, #31-Burton, #9-Kahne, #2-Busch, #99-Edwards and #47-Ambrose. #48-Jimmie Johnson wrecked on his first lap, will start 42nd [ties his worst starting spot, three other times] and have to run a backup car with no practice. The non Top-35 drivers who made the race: #13-Papis, #78-Smith, #71-Gilliland, #25-Keselowski, #36-Riggs and #09-Marlin. The two drivers who failed to qualify: #41-Mayfield and #82-Speed. See qualifying results, pole progression and starting lineup on my Darlington Starting Lineup/Qulaifying Results page.(5-8-2009)
