The grid’s top three was identical to last weekend’s qualifying at New Hampshire, with Edwards beating Joey Logano and David Ragan to pole.

In a session run to the single-lap superspeedway qualifying format, Edwards was eighth in the first round and therefore ran fifth in round two.

He set a time of 49.056 seconds and then held onto top spot as the seven remaining drivers made their attempts, with Logano coming closest but falling 0.087s short.

Tony Stewart topped the first round ahead of Kyle Larson, but they had to settle for fourth and fifth respectively in the second round.

Kevin Harvick took sixth ahead of Clint Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr, with Kyle Busch ninth as he chases a third straight victory.

Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the 12 drivers who made it through to the second round.

Martin Truex Jr and Kurt Busch narrowly failed to make the cut, taking 13th and 14th respectively.

Edwards’ Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Denny Hamlin was the last to run in the opening round after setting the best time in practice but he was only 17th, two spots ahead of 2014 Brickyard 400 winner Jeff Gordon.

Others to miss out included another JGR driver Matt Kenseth in 23rd and Hendrick’s Kasey Kahne in 27th.

Brad Keselowski could only muster 31st in his Penske Ford after a slight brush with the wall, while Ryan Newman was 36th after running without his right-side window, an infraction that meant he was put to the back of the grid.