Mark Martin wins Bristol pole

Mark Martin

Mark Martin's drove his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Martin comes into the fifth race of the season in the 35th spot of the owner point standings and is in danger of losing a guaranteed starting spot next week in Martinsville if he falls below the Top 35 cut-off. So surprise surprise, he wins the pole.

It was his second straight pole to follow-up his Atlanta top spot earned on March 6th.

"It feels really good," said Martin. “The car was so fast at the finish line on the first lap I said I was going to quit. But I was going so fast there was no way I could get it to pit road. So I had to make a second lap."

It was Martin's 43rd career Sprint Cup pole and the eighth of his career at Bristol.

Ryan Newman is another driver near the Top 35 cut-off in need of a good finish on Sunday and, surprise surprise, he also kicked off the weekend on a high note by claiming the outside front row starting spot.

Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top five.

David Reutimann, Reed Sorenson, Dave Blaney. Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon completed the first ten qualifiers.

Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield failed to qualify for the race.

Sunday's Food City 500 is slated for a 2 p.m. ET green flag.

Results

+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie