NASCAR Charlotte starting lineup 2012: Greg Biffle leads Bank of America 500 qualifying

Greg Biffle said he’s been down in the dumps lately with a disappointing start to the Chase.

A pole position for Saturday night’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway might lift his spirits a bit.

Biffle will lead the starting lineup for the Bank of America 500 after a track-record lap of 193.708 mph edged similarly fast laps from Mark Martin (193.361 mph) and Ryan Newman (193.251).

“I was super excited after that lap,” Biffle said. “I drove it off into Turn 1 further than I thought it was going to work, and the car hooked the bottom and stuck. When he told me the lap time...I knew at that point it was a track record. I was pretty excited about it.

“That was a perfect lap. I hit all my marks just right on the button.”

Chase drivers Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth will start fourth through seventh, followed by Kyle Busch and three more playoff drivers – Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick.

Other Chasers included Jeff Gordon (13th), Brad Keselowski (20th) and Tony Stewart (32nd).

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss the race after suffering from the effects of his second concussion in six weeks.

Here is the starting lineup for Saturday night’s NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway (Chase drivers in BOLD):