NASCAR at Martinsville 2018 Qualifying Results: Kyle Busch Takes Pole Position

Kyle Busch captured the pole Saturday for the NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia.

Busch narrowly beat fellow playoff driver Clint Bowyer to earn the right to start on the inside of Row 1 on Sunday. Here are the full qualifying results, courtesy of NASCAR.com:

1. Kyle Busch: 96.254 mph

2. Clint Bowyer: 96.254 mph

3. Denny Hamlin: 96.112 mph

4. Ryan Blaney: 96.093 mph

5. Aric Almirola: 96.058 mph

6. Martin Truex Jr.: 95.932 mph

7. Kurt Busch: 95.883 mph

8. Brad Keselowski: 95.781 mph

9. Daniel Suarez: 95.704 mph

10. Kyle Larson: 95.607 mph

11. Joey Logano: 95.516 mph

12. William Byron: 95.266 mph

13. Kevin Harvick: 95.530 mph

14. David Ragan: 95.472 mph

15. Chris Buescher: 95.444 mph

16. Alex Bowman: 95.434 mph

17. AJ Allmendinger: 95.352 mph

18. Ryan Newman: 95.323 mph

19. Jamie McMurray: 95.208 mph

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: 95.184 mph

21. Chase Elliott: 95.146 mph

22. Michael McDowell: 95.084 mph

23. Jimmie Johnson: 95.079 mph

24. Erik Jones: 95.027 mph

25. Ross Chastain: 95.165 mph

26. Ty Dillon: 95.132 mph

27. Matt Kenseth: 95.094 mph

28. Austin Dillon: 95.079 mph

29. Matt DiBenedetto: 95.070 mph

30. Regan Smith: 94.960 mph

31. Cole Whitt: 94.411 mph

32. Bubba Wallace: 94.387 mph

33. D.J. Kennington: 93.919 mph

34. JJ Yeley: 93.719 mph

35. Joey Gase: 93.088 mph

36. Jeb Burton: 92.878 mph

37. Timmy Hill: 92.678 mph

38. Hermie Sadler: 92.497 mph

39. Paul Menard: 90.000 mph

40. Landon Cassill: 0.000 mph

Busch now has six poles on the season to go with his seven race wins.

Sunday's race will mark the Round of 8 event in this season's NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Of those still in championship contention, Kyle Busch, Bowyer, Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch and Joey Logano were among the 12 drivers to take part in the final stage of qualifying.

Kevin Harvick narrowly missed out and had to settle for the No. 13 position after Logano edged him:

Chase Elliott was the worst qualifying performer among the playoff cars, as he will start from the 21st spot Sunday.

Ryan Blaney, who has already been eliminated from the playoffs, was the fastest driver in the first round of qualifying.

While qualifying largely went down without incident, rookie Bubba Wallace had a spin in the opening round and will start 32nd:

After the field was cut down to 24, Kurt Busch led the way in the second stage.

Kyle Busch is first in the standings entering Sunday's race with a one-point lead over Harvick and a 17-point advantage over Truex in third. The 33-year-old has reached the final playoff round in each of the past three seasons, including 2015 when he won his first points title.

With two career wins at Martinsville and an average finish of 11.3 at the track, Busch is in solid position to score a victory Sunday and clinch a spot in the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.