CONCORD, N.C. — Veteran driver Kurt Busch will start on the pole for Sunday evening's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Busch earned the pole with a lap of 29.790 seconds, just ahead of seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson. The rest of the top five are Chase Elliott, Matt Kenseth and Tyler Reddick.
Defending Coca-Cola 600 winner Martin Truex Jr. was the highest-qualifying Toyota driver. He'll start Sunday's race in eighth place. Denny Hamlin, who won Wednesday night's Darlington race, qualified 13th in the No. 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Matt DiBenedetto will start the race from the tail-end of the field after pancaking the wall in Turn 4 during his lap.DiBenedetto's Wood Brothers Racing crew opted to use their backup car following that incident. Aric Almirola also had problems when he got loose and spun exiting Turn 4 coming to the green flag.