Biffle wins Darlington pole

DARLINGTON, S.C., May 11 (UPI) -- Greg Biffle, who made the next-to-last qualifying attempt, captured the pole Friday for Saturday night's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Biffle recorded a lap of 180.257 mph for the 11th pole of his Sprint Cup career. It is his second pole at Darlington, the other having come four years ago, and he has won twice at this track.

He was the only driver to reach 180 mph during qualifying. Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne were both clocked at 179.566 mph, but Johnson was given the second qualifying position because he has more owner points than Kahne.

Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, defending champion Regan Smith and Jeff Burton.

Danica Patrick, who will make her second Sprint Cup start, qualified 38th.

Biffle is on top of the yearlong series championship race, holding a seven-point lead over Matt Kenseth.