NASCAR Charlotte Motor Speedway Starting Lineup: Tony Stewart Captures First Pole Of 2011 Chase

Qualifying Thursday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway was close, but Chase contender Tony Stewart was the fastest with a lap of 28.131 seconds at a speed of 191.959 mph.

Stewart, who was the 36th driver to make an attempt, knocked Matt Kenseth off the provisional pole by a mere 0.006 seconds.

"That's a (Ryan) Newman lap there," Stewart said. "We've been pretty solid since we unloaded, so that's a perfect way to start the weekend so far."

Missing out on the pole, Kenseth said he "left some out there" and wished he could make another attempt at the lap. Starting second, Kenseth has qualified sixth or better in the four out of the five Chase races.

Carl Edwards had a strong run going, but lost a lot of time off the exit of the fourth corner and posted the third-fastest time of the session.

"If I would have known how good we were down the back straightaway I would have gone a little easier through (Turns) 3 and 4," Edwards said with a smile. "It's nice to be disappointed with third-place in qualifying."

Joey Logano held the top spot for much of the time early in the session until Dale Earnhardt Jr. set off a string of cars that exchanged the provisional pole until Stewart captured the top spot with 10 cars to go.

Here is the complete starting lineup for Saturday's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (Chase drivers in bold):