Kyle Busch wins pole at Charlotte; Denny Hamlin third

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CONCORD, N.C. -- The Joe Gibbs Racing cars might be showing speed at the right time.

Kyle Busch won the pole and teammate Denny Hamlin qualified third for Saturday night's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon taking the No. 2 starting spot.

'We're working on it and getting better,' Busch said. '(If) we get one piece of the puzzle each week, we're going to be tough to beat.'

Busch's lap of 197.390 mph edged Gordon (197.217), showing improvement in his Toyota at the kind of 1.5-mile track where JGR had struggled this year.

'We're definitely not at that peak yet, but we're getting closer and closer to the field on speed,' Hamlin said.

Gordon was pleased with his team's effort.

'Oh my gosh, it's so fast, so much grip, so much commitment,' Gordon said. '... That's a great place to start this race.'

Other Chase drivers in the top 10 included Ryan Newman (fifth), Kevin Harvick (seventh), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (ninth) and Carl Edwards (10th).

Five Chase drivers failed to make the final round, and the list included some surprising names. Both Team Penske cars - Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski - missed the cut despite showing speed in qualifying all season, along with Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth.

It was only the second time this season both Penske cars failed to make the final round of qualifying.

Kahne had been the fastest car in Round 1, while Johnson was trying to give himself a starting position in a race he badly needs to win.

'Just didn't have speed on that final run there,' Johnson said. '... Disappointing, no way around it.'

Logano will start 13th with Keselowski 17th, Kahne 19th, Johnson 21st and Kenseth 22nd.

All 12 Chasers made it past the first round, but it wasn't without a little drama.

Johnson aborted his first attempt to qualify when his car got loose in Turns 1 and 2 and nearly spun out. But on his second attempt, he easily made the top 24 and advanced to the second round.

Keselowski had a slow first lap and fell outside the cutoff, but cooled his tires and later ran a second lap to vault himself into the second round.

And Kenseth barely made the cut for the second round - he ended the first session in the 24th position.

Kurt Busch set a new track record with 198.771 mph, breaking Hamlin's record of 195.624 mph set in 2013.

Trevor Bayne failed to qualify for the race. He was attempting to make it in an extra car for Roush Fenway Racing, where he'll drive the No. 6 in the Sprint Cup Series next season.

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck