Kyle Busch wins pole at Charlotte; Denny Hamlin third

CONCORD, N.C. -- The Joe Gibbs Racing cars might be showing speed at the right time.

Kyle Busch won the pole and teammate Denny Hamlin qualified third for Saturday night's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon taking the No. 2 starting spot.

Busch said his JGR team was "saving the best for last" despite not keeping pace with Team Penske and Hendrick this season.

"They're the favorites, right?" he said. "I don't know if anybody would have put a JGR car in the final four going into Homestead, so we're definitely the underdogs, and that's fine.

"But we've all continued to work hard and progressed through the season, heading in the right direction and here we are now with good things hopefully continuing on the horizon."

Busch's lap of 197.390 mph edged Gordon (197.217), showing improvement in his Toyota at the kind of 1.5-mile track where JGR had struggled this year.

"We're definitely not at that peak yet, but we're getting closer and closer to the field on speed," Hamlin said.

Gordon was pleased with his team's effort.

"Oh my gosh, it's so fast, so much grip, so much commitment," Gordon said. "… That's a great place to start this race."

Other Chase drivers in the top 10 included Ryan Newman (fifth), Kevin Harvick (seventh), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (ninth) and Carl Edwards (10th).

Five Chase drivers failed to make the final round, and the list included some surprising names. Both Team Penske cars – Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski – missed the cut despite showing speed in qualifying all season, along with Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth.

It was only the second time this season both Penske cars failed to make the final round of qualifying.

Kahne had been the fastest car in Round 1, while Johnson was trying to give himself a starting position in a race he badly needs to win.

"Just didn't have speed on that final run there," Johnson said. "… Disappointing, no way around it."

Logano will start 13th with Keselowski 17th, Kahne 19th, Johnson 21st and Kenseth 22nd.

All 12 Chasers made it past the first round, but it wasn't without a little drama.

Johnson aborted his first attempt to qualify when his car got loose in Turns 1 and 2 and nearly spun out. But on his second attempt, he easily made the top 24 and advanced to the second round.

Keselowski had a slow first lap and fell outside the cutoff, but cooled his tires and later ran a second lap to vault himself into the second round.

And Kenseth barely made the cut for the second round – he ended the first session in the 24th position.

Kurt Busch set a new track record with 198.771 mph, breaking Hamlin's record of 195.624 mph set in 2013.

Trevor Bayne failed to qualify for the race. He was attempting to make it in an extra car for Roush Fenway Racing, where he'll drive the No. 6 in the Sprint Cup Series next season.​

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck

After Thursday qualifying; race Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway (lap length: 1.5 miles; car number in parentheses)

1. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 197.39 mph.

2. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 197.217.

3. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 197.087.

4. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 196.542.

5. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 196.442.

6. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 196.1.

7. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 195.837.

8. (55) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 195.744.

9. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 194.953.

10. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 194.861.

11. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 194.328.

12. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 191.598.

13. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 196.485.

14. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 196.464.

15. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 196.442.

16. (51) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 196.414.

17. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 196.278.

18. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 196.278.

19. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 196.271.

20. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 196.207.

21. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 196.171.

22. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 196.114.

23. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 195.73.

24. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 195.673.

25. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 195.291.

26. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 195.277.

27. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 194.665.

28. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 194.273.

29. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 194.112.

30. (36) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 193.736.

31. (95) Michael McDowell, Ford, 193.465.

32. (40) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 193.368.

33. (23) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 193.223.

34. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 193.175.

35. (7) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 193.078.

36. (26) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 192.974.

37. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, Owner Points.

38. (98) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

39. (66) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, Owner Points.

40. (33) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

41. (83) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, Owner Points.

42. (77) Corey LaJoie, Ford, Owner Points.

43. (32) Blake Koch, Ford, Owner Points.

Failed to Qualify

44. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford.