NASCAR: Truex claims Talladega pole

Martin Truex Jr. claimed the Coors Light Pole Award in Saturday afternoon's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway.

Truex drove the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota to a best lap of 193.423mph in the final round of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying on the 2.66-mile track. It's Truex's fourth pole position of the season, 11th of his Sprint Cup career and first at Talladega.

Brad Keselowski, a four-time Talladega winner, will start second in Sunday's Hellmann's 500 after posting a final-round lap of 193.365mph in the Team Penske No. 2 Ford.

Matt Kenseth, Chase Elliott and Greg Biffle completed the top five in qualifying for the sixth of 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. The championship-eligible field will be trimmed from 12 drivers to eight after Sunday's 500-miler.

Three Joe Gibbs Racing cars – those of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Kenseth – were pulled from the qualifying line just before their speed attempts. NASCAR officials said that they were investigating a potential issue with the rear deck lid and quarter panel area. With those issues remedied behind the wall, all three were allowed to qualify.

Reed Sorenson, who was required to make the field on the basis of qualifying time, posted an eyebrow-raising lap of 194.145mph to lead the first round, a sizable 0.326 seconds faster than the next-fastest driver, Truex. Sorenson's Premium Motorsports No. 55 Toyota faded considerably in the final round and will start 12th.

David Gilliland failed to qualify for the 40-car field.