Vickers lapped the two-mile oval at 187.242 m.p.h. (38.453 seconds) in his No.83 Red Bull Toyota for his Sprint Cup Series high sixth pole of the season and the 11th of his career. He qualified .05 seconds quicker than Martin.

"It's always special to be on the pole," Vickers said. "We had a really good car in qualifying. I almost messed it up. I got through (turns) one and two so good that I was carrying too much speed into three. I overdrove it a little bit, but luckily it was still enough."

Martin will start alongside Vickers on the outside pole. The 50-year-old driver has won at Michigan five times, including the most recent race here in June.

"That was so desperately too loose," Martin said after making his qualifying run. "I got a little piece of the wall coming to the green flag. It seemed like I was out of the gas for a long time in (turns) one and two, and I just decided that I was so loose that the harder I would go in, the worse it pushed."

Juan Pablo Montoya qualified third, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr.

Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, rookie Joey Logano, Bill Elliott and Kasey Kahne completed the top-10. Kahne will have to start from the rear of the field after an engine change during Friday's practice.

Tony Stewart, the current points leader, will start 18th, while Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose last Sprint Cup victory came in June 2008 at Michigan, will roll off 15th.

Carl Edwards will start 32nd, as he attempts to defend his race title at Michigan.

Tony Raines was the only driver who failed to qualify.

Sunday's race is scheduled to start just after 2:00 p.m. (et).