Martin turned in the best lap at 15.256 seconds (125.773 m.p.h.) for his 43rd career Sprint Cup Series pole and his eighth at Bristol, which is one short of Cale Yarborough's all-time pole record at the half-mile Tennessee track.

"It feels really good," Martin said. "The car was so fast at the finish line on the first lap I said I was going to quit. But I was going so fast there was no way I could get it to pit road. So I had to make a second lap."

Martin also won the pole two weeks ago at Atlanta. Prior to that, he had not scored a pole in the series since May 2001 at Richmond.

Twenty years ago, Martin recorded back-to-back poles for the first time in his career at Darlington and Bristol. Martin, at 50 years, two months and 11 days, broke Geoff Bodine's 1997 record as oldest driver to win multiple Cup poles in a season. Bodine was 48 years, six months and 29 days old when he won his second pole in '97 for the season-finale at Atlanta.

Martin finished 16th in the Daytona 500, but has placed outside the top-30 in the last three races. He suffered engine failure at California and Las Vegas and ended up with a pair of 40th-place finishes. Martin ran among the leaders for the first half of the race at Atlanta, but cut his right-rear tire and spun, with the back end of his car smacking the wall on lap 216. He spent 10 laps behind the wall and ended up with a 31st-place run. He is currently 34th in points.

After running a limited schedule for the past two seasons, Martin is competing at Bristol for the first time since August 2006.

Ryan Newman will share the front row with Martin after posting a lap of 15.260 seconds (125.740 m.p.h.). It's the first time Newman has started on the front row since last April at Phoenix.

Three-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson will start third, followed by Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne.

Biffle will not compete in Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Bristol after suffering a rib injury from a boating accident earlier in the week.

Biffle said he slipped and fell while attempting to jump from the dock to the boat, and the slip resulted in his right side hitting the side of the small vessel. He was boating with friends near his home in Charlotte, NC. Biffle is expected to compete in the Sprint Cup race.

Sixth through 10th will be: David Reutimann, Reed Sorenson, Dave Blaney, Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon, who will enter the race with a 43-point lead.

Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield failed to qualify.

Sunday's race is scheduled to begin around 2:00 p.m. (et).