TALLADEGA – Travis Kvapil won the first pole of his Sprint Cup career Saturday when he took the top qualifying spot at Talladega Superspeedway.

Kvapil turned a lap at 187.364 mph in his Yates Racing Ford to win a pole in his 100th career start. Casey Mears qualified second with a lap of 187.295 in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

The surprise of the qualifying session was Dale Earnhardt Inc., which placed all four of its cars in the top 10 amid questions about the long-term stability of the organization. But Aric Almirola qualified third, Regan Smith was fourth, Paul Menard was fifth and Martin Truex Jr. was 10th to give DEI a much-needed boost.