Kenseth, the 2009 Daytona 500 champion, topped the charts with a qualifying lap of 179.514 m.p.h. in his No.17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. He was the only driver to eclipse Greg Biffle's track record, set one year ago.

"This car today has had really good speed in it all day," Kenseth said. "I didn't think we would ever be on the pole, but I felt good about how our car was driving."

It was Kenseth's fourth career Sprint Cup Series pole, but his first since October 2005 at Kansas.

Kenseth's previous best start in 15 Sprint Cup races at Darlington was sixth, which came in August 2003. He has yet to win here in NASCAR's top division.

Jeff Gordon, a seven-time race winner at Darlington, will start on the outside pole after posting the second-fastest lap at 178.861 m.p.h.

"I could only go for it in one lap," Gordon said. "I didn't want to see if it could go any faster, because I thought we would take too much risk wrecking it."

Ryan Newman qualified third.

"I did two qualifying runs during practice," Newman said. "That was a good effort for us."

Sam Hornish Jr. and rookie Joey Logano rounded out the top-five.

Jeff Burton, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and Marcos Ambrose were six through 10th, respectively.

Other notable drivers and their starting positions include: Mark Martin (12th), Kyle Busch (14th), Tony Stewart (18th) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (26th).

Jimmie Johnson spun during his qualifying attempt with his rear-end slamming the wall in turn two. Johnson's car then slid down the track and made contact with the inside wall. The three-time defending series champion will have to start from the rear of the field in his backup car.

David Reutimann and David Stremme will also start from the back after they wrecked in separate incidents during final practice.

Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Speed failed to qualify.

Saturday's race is scheduled to start around 7:20 p.m. (et).