Mark Martin won the pole at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee for a race that will be critical to his Chase for the championship chances.

Martin turned a lap at 124.484 mph to win his fifth pole of the season and sweep the top starting spot at Bristol this season. He beat Greg Biffle, who ran a lap at 124.307, and rookie Scott Speed, who qualified third at 124.146.

Martin's effort is a huge boost for the No. 5 team, which was reeling after running out of gas last week at Michigan. It cost Martin a top-10 finish and he is clinging to the 12th and final Chase berth with three races to go.

Meanwhile, feuding drivers Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch qualified 14th and 15th -- meaning they will start close to each other tonight in the race.

Vickers became so preoccupied with Busch in the closing moments of a Nationwide race last week at Michigan, they never saw Brad Keselowski charging toward them in a last-lap pass that gave Keselowski a surprise victory.

Busch was furious about the way Vickers raced the final lap, and the two exchanged heated words on pit road after the event. They then sat next to each other in a comically awkward news conference in which they discussed their frustrations with one another as if the other wasn't in the same room.

Keselowski isn't saying whether he'll drive for Penske Racing in 2010.

Keselowski won the pole for the Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. He then wanted no part of any discussion about his plans.

"I'm really not prepared to address any of the rumors about next year," he said. "I'm here to race the Nationwide car and win with it tonight and I am not going to let anything get in the way."

Keselowski turned down an offer from Roger Penske last year to drive the No. 12 Dodge, and the ride instead went to David Stremme.

Keselowski is again the hottest young prospect, but current team JR Motorsports does not drive in the Sprint Cup Series and co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. has no plans to move that team up to NASCAR's top level. Keselowski had hoped to replace Martin next year in the No. 5 car for Hendrick Motorsports, but Martin decided to keep the seat in 2010.

Fernando Alonso had the fastest lap in European Grand Prix practice in Valencia, Spain, while Ferrari replacement Luca Badoer's return to F1 after a decade did not go as well.

Renault's Alonso finished in 1 minute, 39.404 seconds over two sessions at the Valencia street circuit course to lead overall leader Jenson Button and Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello.

Alonso was cleared to race Monday when F1's governing body overturned Renault's one-race ban stemming from a safety incident at the Hungarian GP.

Badoer, replacing the injured defending champion Felipe Massa, finished 18th with a lap time 2.6 seconds off Alonso's. Despite the time, Badoer said he was "happy with the way things went."

Badoer forgot to slow down in the pit lane, however. He received three separate speeding fines totaling $7,700. He also had to meet with stewards to explain his actions after a fourth offense.

Romain Grosjean's debut for Renault was smoother as the Frenchman -- the first to drive for the French team in 24 years -- finished 13th, 1.383 seconds off his teammate's pace.