NASCAR at Darlington 2015 Qualifying Results: Race Order, Final Times, Reaction

Brad Keselowski won the Bojangles' Southern 500 pole in dominant fashion Saturday at Darlington Raceway as he and the No. 2 Ford beat out second-place finisher Kurt Busch by nearly one-tenth of a second.

According to Xfinity Racing on Twitter, the 31-year-old driver ended a lengthy drought by finally capturing his first pole of 2015:

Although Keselowski didn't seem to have trouble taming the track as he posted the best time in both the second and third rounds of qualifying, he expects a major challenge during the race itself, per Matthew Dillner of NASCAR.com:

Here is a full rundown of how the field will start off for Sunday night's race as well as a look at the drivers who failed to make the field, courtesy of NASCAR.com:

Position	Driver	Best Speed (mph)	Best Time (sec)
Round 3
1	Brad Keselowski	178.874	27.492
2	Kurt Busch	177.588	27.691
3	Kevin Harvick	177.415	27.718
4	Joey Logano	177.319	27.733
5	Jeff Gordon	177.192	27.753
6	Denny Hamlin	176.905	27.798
7	Martin Truex Jr.	176.848	27.807
8	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	176.670	27.835
9	Ryan Blaney	176.195	27.910
10	Kyle Busch	176.075	27.929
11	Aric Almirola	175.962	27.947
12	Paul Menard	175.297	28.053
Round 2
13	Carl Edwards	177.511	27.703
14	Matt Kenseth	177.217	27.749
15	Kasey Kahne	177.204	27.751
16	Kyle Larson	177.134	27.762
17	Tony Stewart	177.045	27.776
18	Trevor Bayne	177.013	27.781
19	Jimmie Johnson	176.860	27.805
20	Jamie McMurray	176.568	27.851
21	David Ragan	176.264	27.899
22	Chase Elliott	176.119	27.922
23	Ryan Newman	175.943	27.950
24	Greg Biffle	153.498	32.037
Round 1
25	Matt DiBenedetto	177.339	27.730
26	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	177.000	27.783
27	Justin Allgaier	177.000	27.783
28	Clint Bowyer	176.714	27.828
29	Austin Dillon	176.682	27.833
30	Danica Patrick	176.613	27.844
31	Landon Cassill	176.594	27.847
32	Casey Mears	176.511	27.860
33	Sam Hornish Jr.	176.372	27.882
34	AJ Allmendinger	176.144	27.918
35	Alex Bowman	176.025	27.937
36	JJ Yeley	175.981	27.944
37	Cole Whitt	175.159	28.075
38	David Gilliland	174.680	28.152
39	Michael Annett	174.624	28.161
40	Brett Moffitt	174.117	28.243
41	Jeb Burton	173.970	28.267
42	Mike Bliss	172.954	28.433
43	TJ Bell	172.167	28.563
Missed Cut			Time
44	Josh Wise	174.979	28.104
45	Timmy Hill	174.389	28.199
46	Travis Kvapil	174.303	28.213

Keselowski has yet to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Darlington, but he does have two top-10 finishes to his credit—and he is in a better position than ever before to enter Victory Lane.

The first round of qualifying resulted in several high-profile drivers falling short of the top 24. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was chief among them as he finished roughly six-hundredths of a second behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson for the final spot in the second round.

Also, Danica Patrick had a rough go of things in the first round as she scraped the wall and ended up with the 30th qualifying position.

According to Jeff Gluck of USA Today, the No. 10 team as a whole wasn't happy with the way the qualifying runs played out:

While Johnson managed to sneak into the second round of qualifying, the six-time Sprint Cup champion was delaying the inevitable as he qualified 19th at a track on which he has won three times.

Chase drivers Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth both fell short of the final round, too, as they qualified 13th and 14th, respectively.

Jeff Gordon is arguably the best Darlington driver of all time, with seven wins and 23 top-10 finishes in 34 starts. He is still looking for his first win of the season to solidify his spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and his fifth-place qualifying run should give him a great opportunity to take the checkered flag.

Per Gluck, Gordon—who is in the midst of his final full-time season—has enjoyed racing at the so-called "Track Too Tough to Tame":

"

I loved it right away. I loved running up near the fence. I think had I not raced at places like Salem and Winchester in the midgets and the sprint cars this track would have probably been a little bit more intimidating. It fit my style, our cars were good. I really enjoyed, right from the beginning, racing at this track.

"

Gordon winning in his final Darlington race would be fitting, although several drivers proved to be top contenders during Saturday's qualifying runs.

Keselowski undoubtedly has the car to beat, though, and since he is already locked into the Chase, he can afford to take some chances.

A win would mark Keselowski's second of the season, and it would put him in a comfortable position heading toward NASCAR's version of the playoffs.

Based on what he did Saturday, the rest of the field will be hard-pressed to defeat him.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.