Like the majority of the 12 original Chase for the Championship contenders Carl Edwards has seen his 2007 title dreams steamrollered by Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon and so the final two races of the season are arguably the least stressful for the driver of the #99 Roush-Fenway Racing Ford.
Perhaps because of the lack of pressure now on the current NASCAR Busch Series champion Edwards rolled to his first Bud Pole award since the 2005 season finale at Homestead by taking top spot on the grid for Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500k at the one-mile Phoenix International Raceway.
Edwards, who has four top ten finishes in six career Cup Series starts at PIR, barely out-ran Martin Truex Jr on his qualifying run to take just his third pole position since graduating to the Nextel Cup during the summer of 2004. The driver of the #99 Ford stopped the clocks in a best time of 27.114secs on a sunny late autumn afternoon in the Phoenix desert, three thousandths of a second faster than the #1 DEI Chevrolet of Truex Jr who, like Edwards, is out of contention in the title chase.
One driver definitely still in the Chase for the Championship, Jeff Gordon, will start third in the #24 Hendrick Chevrolet as he looks to regain the overall lead he lost to the red-hot Jimmie Johnson last weekend in Texas. Although momentum has been on Johnson's side in the last three weeks Gordon comes to Phoenix having finally got his first Cup victory at PIR earlier this season.
Johnson, who will be looking for his fourth straight victory in the #48 Hendrick Chevrolet, will start sixth behind JJ Yeley and Johnny Sauter with Clint Bowyer, the only other driver with even a remote chance of taking the title down in 20th in his #07 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Completing the top ten starters on Sunday will be Edwards' teammate Greg Biffle, Tony Raines in his penultimate outing for Hall of Fame Racing, Penske Racing's Kurt Busch and Gillett-Evernham Motorsports Kasey Kahne.
The remaining Chase contenders are spread throughout the 43 car grid with Jeff Burton set to start 12th, Denny Hamlin 15th, Matt Kenseth 18th, Tony Stewart 21st and defending Checker Auto Parts 500k winner Kevin Harvick 34th.
Sunday's race will also be significant for the high number of ex-single seater drivers in the field as Patrick Carpentier, Sam Hornish Jr and Jacques Villeneuve all successfully qualified for the race to join Juan Montoya in the starting line-up.
Carpentier put the #10 GEM Dodge 24th on the grid for his first Cup Series start on an oval while Hornish Jr finally qualified the third Penske Dodge in 26th at the seventh time of asking. Villeneuve kept his perfect qualifying record in tact with the #27 Bill Davis Toyota team and will start 27th although AJ Allmendinger failed to complete a perfect day for the open-wheel converts as he was one of six drivers who failed to make the cut.
Allmendinger's Red Bull Racing teammate Brian Vickers was the fastest of the 'go or go home' drivers and will start 22nd ahead of Carpentier, Hornish Jr, Villeneuve, returning veterans Sterling Marlin and Johnny Benson in the #09 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet and the #36 Bill Davis Racing Toyota respectively, Joe Nemechek and Bill Elliott.
Qualifying was not a happy time for Michael Waltrip as his team cars accounted for half the DNQ list. In addition to Waltrip himself and Dale Jarrett, David Reutimann also failed to qualify after his engine blew during his Bud Pole run. Allmendinger, Ward Burton and John Andretti also failed to make the cut.
