BRISTOL, Tenn. – After leading Nationwide Series final practice, Brad Keselowski won the pole for Friday night’s Food City 250 at the Bristol Motor Speedway.
Keselowski’s lap of 120.565 mph paced the field that will include Sprint Cup Series drivers Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson and David Reutimann.
While the No. 88 sat firmly on the pole, news leaked that the JR Motorsports driver would be headed to Penske Racing, which competes under the Dodge banner in the Sprint Cup Series, in 2009. Keselowski chose to remain mum on his future plans.
“I really am not in a position to talk about any of that stuff right now,” Keselowski said. “I’m really not prepared to address any of the rumors about next year. I’m here to race the Nationwide car and win with it tonight and I am not going to let anything get in the way or distract us from that end.”
Edwards will roll off second, Bowyer third, Kenseth fourth and hometown favorite Trevor Bayne rounds out the top five. The green flag is expected to fly shortly after 7:30 p.m. ET.
Qualifying Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Make | Speed | Time | Bnd |
| 1 | 88 | Brad Keselowski | Chevrolet | 120.565 | 15.915 | |
| 2 | 60 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 120.444 | 15.931 | -0.016 |
| 3 | 29 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | 120.429 | 15.933 | -0.018 |
| 4 | 16 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 120.354 | 15.943 | -0.028 |
| 5 | 99 | Trevor Bayne | Toyota | 120.301 | 15.95 | -0.035 |
| 6 | 12 | Justin Allgaier* | Dodge | 120.278 | 15.953 | -0.038 |
| 7 | 20 | Brad Coleman | Toyota | 120.022 | 15.987 | -0.072 |
| 8 | 66 | Steve Wallace | Chevrolet | 119.985 | 15.992 | -0.077 |
| 9 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | 119.85 | 16.01 | -0.095 |
| 10 | 5 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 119.581 | 16.046 | -0.131 |
| 11 | 33 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 119.388 | 16.072 | -0.157 |
| 12 | 1 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 119.351 | 16.077 | -0.162 |
| 13 | 15 | Michael Annett* | Toyota | 119.328 | 16.08 | -0.165 |
| 14 | 10 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | 119.18 | 16.1 | -0.185 |
| 15 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 119.099 | 16.111 | -0.196 |
| 16 | 11 | Brian Scott | Toyota | 119.091 | 16.112 | -0.197 |
| 17 | 27 | Jason Keller | Ford | 118.995 | 16.125 | -0.21 |
| 18 | 177 | Peyton Sellers | Chevrolet | 118.988 | 16.126 | -0.211 |
| 19 | 26 | Michael McDowell* | Dodge | 118.929 | 16.134 | -0.219 |
| 20 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan* | Chevrolet | 118.841 | 16.146 | -0.231 |
| 21 | 9 | John Wes Townley* | Ford | 118.672 | 16.169 | -0.254 |
| 22 | 40 | Scott Wimmer | Chevrolet | 118.613 | 16.177 | -0.262 |
| 23 | 1 | Danny O’Quinn Jr. | Chevrolet | 118.591 | 16.18 | -0.265 |
| 24 | 5 | Casey Atwood | Chevrolet | 118.591 | 16.18 | -0.265 |
| 25 | 61 | Matt Carter | Ford | 118.584 | 16.181 | -0.266 |
| 26 | 38 | Jason Leffler | Toyota | 118.459 | 16.198 | -0.283 |
| 27 | 7 | Chase Austin | Chevrolet | 118.379 | 16.209 | -0.294 |
| 28 | 47 | Coleman Pressley | Toyota | 118.306 | 16.219 | -0.304 |
| 29 | 49 | Mark Green | Chevrolet | 118.291 | 16.221 | -0.306 |
| 30 | 28 | Kenny Wallace | Chevrolet | 118.087 | 16.249 | -0.334 |
| 31 | 178 | Kevin Lepage | Dodge | 118.029 | 16.257 | -0.342 |
| 32 | 173 | Derrike Cope | Dodge | 117.971 | 16.265 | -0.35 |
| 33 | 172 | Benny Gordon | Ford | 117.848 | 16.282 | -0.367 |
| 34 | 91 | Terry Cook* | Chevrolet | 117.804 | 16.288 | -0.373 |
| 35 | 90 | Johnny Chapman | Chevrolet | 117.516 | 16.328 | -0.413 |
| 36 | 52 | Brad Teague | Chevrolet | 117.487 | 16.332 | -0.417 |
| 37 | 87 | Mike Bliss | Chevrolet | 117.15 | 16.379 | -0.464 |
| 38 | 23 | Ken Butler III* | Chevrolet | 116.957 | 16.406 | -0.491 |
| 39 | 24 | Eric McClure+ | Ford | 116.474 | 16.474 | -0.559 |
| 40 | 81 | Sean Murphy+ | Dodge | 116.284 | 16.501 | -0.586 |
| 41 | 32 | David Reutimann+ | Toyota | 116.08 | 16.53 | -0.615 |
| 42 | 234 | Tony Raines+ | Chevrolet | 115.968 | 16.546 | -0.631 |
| 43 | 198 | Paul Menard | Ford | 117.343 | 16.352 | -0.437 |
