The new ‘Car of Today' claimed its first outright Sprint Cup track record on Friday as Greg Biffle took pole position for the Dodge Challenger 500 with the fastest ever lap around the famed Darlington Raceway.
Following an unprecedented number of incidents and accidents in practice it is clear that the resurfaced 1.366-mile egg shaped oval is still as demanding as it ever was and double Darlington winner Biffle proved that it is also quicker than ever before as he stopped the clocks in a time of 27.405-seconds (179.442mph), nearly a full second (and six mph) faster than Ward Burton's 12 year-old track record.
Biffle's pole was not only the first for him in 2008 it was also the first for Ford and while the Blue Oval will at least have some bragging rights at the start of a race sponsored by rival manufacturer DaimlerChrysler, one has to look back as far as the eighth row of the 43 car field before finding another Ford.
Starting alongside Biffle on the front row will be the man who is perhaps more determined to get into Victory Lane than any other on the grid, Dale Earnhardt Jr who, after being robbed of the win last Saturday in Richmond, put in a lap of 27.418-seconds (179.357mph) to seal second starting spot.
Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart will share the second row of the grid with brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch on row three. Elliott Sadler and defending Darlington race winner Jeff Gordon will start on row four while the top ten is rounded out by Scott Riggs and Bobby Labonte.
RCR teammates Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton will start from row six with the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers, Bill Davis Racing's Dave Blaney, will start 13th.
Dario Franchitti's replacement for the weekend, veteran Sterling Marlin, guided the #40 Chip Ganassi Dodge, a car he came close to winning the 2002 Cup Series title in, to 14th fastest time with Joe Nemechek, Bill Elliott, AJ Allmendinger, JJ Yeley, Kyle Petty and Patrick Carpentier completing the list of drivers who qualified for the race on speed.
Johnny Sauter and Jeff Green, a last minute replacement for Indianapolis bound John Andretti, failed to qualify.
![Greg Biffle, Roush-Fenway Racing Ford [Pic Credit Ford Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/405816.jpg)
