Edwards earns Nationwide pole at Charlotte

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Carl Edwards has earned the pole for Saturday’s Nationwide race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Edwards is the 2007 Nationwide Series champion and the runner-up the last two seasons, but is winless in NASCAR’s top two series this season.

He turned in the fastest lap in qualifying at 186.922 mph and secured his second pole of the year.

Trevor Bayne will start second, followed by Sprint Cup regulars Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne and defending series champ Kyle Busch.

Edwards has eight top-10 finishes in the Nationwide Series in 2010, but hasn’t reached Victory Lane. He had a similar slow start last year, going winless in the first 14 events, but won five races the rest of the way.

His winless streak in the Cup series has reached 48.