Carl Edwards steals the AAA 500 pole from Keselowski and Johnson

Carl Edwards gets his first Texas-style pole award
Credit: Debbie Ross/Skirts and Scuffs

Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski could play spoilers in Sunday's AAA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. For a while during Friday's qualifying session, it appeared that the top two in Sprint Cup points, Johnson and Kenseth, would start next to each other. But as qualifying progressed, Edwards bumped Brad Keselowski off the provisional pole after Keselowski bumped Jimmie Johnson off the provisional pole.

With three wins at TMS, Edwards hopes to add a pair of pistols and a Charlie 1 Horse hat to the long gun awarded for the pole, which was his first at Texas.

Edwards finished second to Tony Stewart in the November 2011 epic championship battle, and the Johnson-Keselowski fandango in which Keselowski finished second has been a topic of conversation all week.

With those two starting from the front row, the AAA 500 looks to be a barn-burner.

In his post-qualifying interview, Johnson revealed that he brushed the wall during his run, scraping the No. 48's bumper cover. Somewhat ironically, he was questioned about his set-to with Greg Biffle last week when Biffle was upset over Johnson's contact with the No. 16's bumper cover.

Paul Menard equals his best start at the Great American Speedway in fourth, while the points leader by virtue of wins, Matt Kenseth, begins from sixth.

Adding yet more pepper to the chili, Kyle Busch starts from fifth position. In theory that's far enough back from Keselowski, but with the history between those two, that's not a given.

Jeff Gordon, who lurks third in points, rolls off eighth, next to teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who in Nationwide competition never started out of the top ten at TMS, starts ninth and Marcos Ambrose rounds out the top ten.

In case you didn't follow the rambling lineup above, here's the complete starting lineup in order. Tune in Sunday at 2 p.m. Central to see if the Wild Asphalt Circus once again lives up to its billing.

1	Carl Edwards
2	Brad Keselowski
3	Jimmie Johnson
4	Paul Menard
5	Kyle Busch
6	Matt Kenseth
7	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
8	Jeff Gordon
9	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
10	Marcos Ambrose
11	Kasey Kahne
12	Joey Logano
13	Ryan Newman
14	Denny Hamlin
15	Martin Truex Jr.
16	Juan Pablo Montoya
17	Aric Almirola
18	Greg Biffle
19	Kevin Harvick
20	Jeff Burton
21	Austin Dillon
22	Bobby Labonte
23	Parker Kligerman
24	Jamie McMurray
25	Elliott Sadler
26	Clint Bowyer
27	Casey Mears
28	David Gilliland
29	David Ragan
30	Danica Patrick
31	Kurt Busch
32	Trevor Bayne
33	Mark Martin
34	Josh Wise
35	Michael McDowell
36	Kyle Larson
37	Landon Cassill
38	Travis Kvapil
39	David Reutimann
40	Timmy Hill
41	Joe Nemechek
42	Dave Blaney
43	J.J. Yeley