NASCAR's most popular driver will lead the start of one of NASCAR's biggest races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the pole position for the Richmond Chase cutoff race on Friday afternoon, and he'll start up front in Saturday night's race – his P1 in qualifying since the 2011 Daytona 500.

Earnhardt Jr. was the only driver to top 127 mph (127.023), and he'll start on the front row alongside Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon – who has much more at stake on Saturday night.

Gordon must either win the race or finish ahead of Kyle Busch in the regular season point standings while hoping another one-win driver doesn't get the final Chase wild card spot with a victory.

"It's really Kyle's to lose," Gordon said. "For us, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. ... I'm just thankful we've performed as well as we have the last couple weeks to give ourselves a shot."

Regan Smith, Clint Bowyer and Hendrick's Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top five. Busch will start 15th, which will put a bit more pressure on the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

JJ Yeley and Mark Green failed to qualify for Saturday's race.

Here is the starting lineup for Saturday night's NASCAR Chase cutoff race at Richmond International Raceway:

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Regan Smith
4. Clint Bowyer
5. Jimmie Johnson
6. Mark Martin
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Joey Logano
9. Martin Truex Jr.
10. Brad Keselowski
11. Sam Hornish Jr.
12. Landon Cassill
13. Kevin Harvick
14. Ryan Newman
15. Kyle Busch
16. Carl Edwards
17. Matt Kenseth
18. Aric Almirola
19. Michael McDowell
20. Jeff Burton
21. Kasey Kahne
22. Marcos Ambrose
23. Greg Biffle
24. Juan Pablo Montoya
25. Paul Menard
26. Jamie McMurray
27. David Ragan
28. Tony Stewart
29. Bobby Labonte
30. Kurt Busch
31. David Stremme
32. Travis Kvapil
33. Dave Blaney
34. David Gilliland
35. Joe Nemechek
36. Stephen Leicht
37. David Reutimann
38. Scott Riggs
39. Ken Schrader
40. Mike Bliss
41. Josh Wise
42. Casey Mears
43. Reed Sorenson