The pole victory was Vickers' first of the season and the fifth of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career. His last pole came in November 2006 at Texas.

"When we unloaded this car, it was just unbelievable," Vickers said. "I didn't know if they re-paved the racetrack or the car was that good. Obviously being early out contributed a little bit to that. We knew that in the back of our minds. We tried some stuff in practice, and it didn't work. Then we went back to where we started and was pretty happy with it."

Jimmie Johnson will start on the outside pole after posting a time of 38.497.

Elliott Sadler (38.590) and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (38.643) will make up row two.

Other drivers of note and their starting positions: Jeff Gordon (fifth), Patrick Carpentier (sixth), Greg Biffle, (ninth), Kyle Busch (11th), Matt Kenseth (14th), Carl Edwards (27th), Kevin Harvick (38th) and Clint Bowyer (41st).

Gordon's fifth-place in qualifying gave Hendrick Motorsports three of the top- five starting positions at Michigan.

Carpentier surprisingly will start sixth after being the fastest among those drivers required to qualify on time.

Brad Coleman will make his Sprint Cup debut at Michigan after securing the 43rd starting position. Coleman will make his first start in the No.96 Toyota for Hall of Fame Racing. P.J. Jones drove the car for HOF at Watkins Glen after J.J. Yeley was released from the team last week.

Johnny Sauter was the only driver who failed to qualify for the 400-mile event.

With four races remaining until the cutoff for the "Chase for the Sprint Cup," tension is building for several drivers as they try to secure a spot in the top-12 in order to qualify. Just 148 points currently separate sixth-place Gordon from 13th-place Bowyer.

Kenseth moved up to 12th in the standings after his 12th-place run at Watkins Glen. Bowyer, meanwhile, finished 23rd and slipped to 13th, 22 markers behind Kenseth.

Jack Roush's drivers have won 10 times at Michigan, second all-time to the Wood Brothers' 11 victories. Two of Roush's victories there have come from Kenseth, who won in June 2002 and August 2006. He has also finished third and fourth, respectively, in the last two races there.

Biffle recorded five straight top-10 finishes at Michigan from August 2004 to August 2006, but has finished 19th, 20th, and 38th, respectively, in the last three races there. He is also a two-time Michigan winner.

Edwards has posted seven Top-10 finishes, including a victory in June 2007, in his eight starts at Michigan. Edwards is now second in the championship standings, 242 points behind Busch.

11th-place Harvick is only 19 points ahead of Kenseth. After a 37th- place run at Indianapolis, Harvick has finished fourth at Pocono and sixth at Watkins Glen to keep his championship hopes alive. He has finished 15th or better in the last five races at Michigan.

Earnhardt, Jr., currently fourth in points, will try for a season-sweep at Michigan. Earnhardt, Jr. won the LifeLock 400 there in June, snapping a 76- race winless streak in the series. If he wins Sunday's race, he will become the first driver to sweep Michigan since Bobby Labonte did it in 1995.

The green flag is scheduled to drop around 2 p.m. (et).