Carl Edwards wins the pole and the rifle at Texas Motor Speedway

Credit: Debbie Ross/Skirts and Scuffs

Carl Edwards collected the the Coors Light Pole Award Saturday afternoon for the 20th Annual Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, his first of the season and second at the track. He also scored the custom Henry rifle that accompanies that achievement.

“This is fun, guys,” Edwards pronounced to the media. “The car was sliding around. If I missed the corner entry a little bit, I could adjust and get the car to turn where I wanted it to… We haven’t raced yet, but I have a feeling this is going to be a lot of fun.”

Edwards’ lap of 194.609 mph in the No. 19 Stanley Toyota topped Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr., who put up identical speeds of 193.306 mph. Logano took the tiebreaker by virtue of his standing in owner points.

Though he was glad to get a front-row starting position and a good pit stall, Logano expressed disappointment at missing the opportunity to get the Henry rifle that goes with the first-place start.
“I wanted the shotgun to go with the six-shooters I got here a couple of years ago,” Logano said.

Truex Jr. thought he had a shot at the pole, too.

“We missed it a little bit from yesterday,” said Truex Jr. “I thought we were really good yesterday and the track was a little faster today and moved on us a little bit. I felt like we had a shot at the pole today, but the 19 (Carl Edwards) put a heck of a lap down, so proud for him.”

The highest-qualifying rookie and the highest-qualifying Chevy, Chase Elliott, will roll off fourth in the No. 24 NAPA machine, his best start since he began the season with the Daytona 500 pole.

“I’m really proud of the improvements we made from Round 1 all the way through Round 3," Elliott said. "I’m very excited that we made the third round and was able to get a nice top-five starting spot.”

Equaling his best qualifying effort of the season, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. starts fifth, one of five Fords that advanced to the final round.

Both Edwards and Logano look forward to the race under the lights tomorrow, citing tire fall-off, a slick, aged surface on the track and the lower downforce package for adding to their enjoyment in racing at Texas.

Tune in to the Duck Commander 500 Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. Central on FOX, SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90, or the PRN network.

Here's the full qualifying results:  

Rank		Driver	Speed
1		Carl Edwards	194.609
2		Joey Logano	193.306
3		Martin Truex, Jr.	193.306
4		Chase Elliott	193.036
5		Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	192.94
6		Denny Hamlin	192.912
7		Ryan Blaney	192.885	*
8		Brad Keselowski	192.685
9		Matt Kenseth	192.362
10		Austin Dillon	192.349
11		Jimmie Johnson	191.51
12		Trevor Bayne	190.57
13		Brian Vickers	192.905
14		Greg Biffle	192.85
15		Kyle Busch	192.644
16		Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	192.548
17		Kasey Kahne	192.404
18		Jamie McMurray	192.007
19		Ryan Newman	191.918
20		Kyle Larson	191.707
21		Kurt Busch	191.598
22		Kevin Harvick	191.537
23		A.J. Allmendinger	191.435
24		Aric Almirola	191.34
25		Paul Menard	192.417
26		Danica Patrick	192.116
27		Brian Scott	191.986
28		Regan Smith	191.775
29		Matt DiBenedetto	191.476
30		Ty Dillon	191.286
31		David Ragan	191.252
32		Casey Mears	190.564
33		Landon Cassill	190.228
34		Chris Buescher	190.121
35		Michael Annett	189.367
36		Clint Bowyer	189.122
37		Cole Whitt	188.193	*
38		Jeffrey Earnhardt	185.522
39		Josh Wise	184.963	*
40		Reed Sorenson	181.592	*