Martin qualifies first in Richmond NASCAR event

Mark Martin, the last driver on the track, grabbed the NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying pole at Richmond International Raceway on Friday.

Martin made it around the .75-mile track in 21.040 seconds (128.327 mph) to beat out Carl Edwards by .006 seconds (128.290 mph).

It was Martin's second pole victory of the year.

"I did not ask (crew chief) Rodney (Childers) what he put under the car," Martin told NASCAR.com. "We made some improvements to the car in Happy Hour (final practice) in race setup right at the end."

Kevin Harvick (128.041 mph) qualified third, followed by AJ Allmendinger (127.962 mph) and Kyle Busch (127.956 mph), who has won the last three Sprint Cup races at Richmond.

Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. round out the top 10 positions.

Points leader Greg Biffle, who qualified just before Martin, was 28th at 126.428 mph.

The Capital City 400 race is Saturday night.