MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Kasey Kahne’s season of struggles were at least temporarily  halted Saturday afternoon when he captured the pole for Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Kahne turned in a lap of 19.496 seconds (97.128 mph) to capture his 24^th career pole and first Martinsville pole win. His previous best Martinsville start was second in 2005.

Kevin Harvick, defending champion in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500, was second fastest in qualifying, followed by Denny Hamlin.

“It was a good lap. This is a tough track to qualifying, it’s a tough track to race,” said Kahne. ‘This has always been one of my toughest tracks. We’ve had a great Friday and Saturday. Hopefully we can put together a great Sunday.”

Kahne came into the weekend 27^th in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series without a top-10 finish this season but has been solid since the first practice at Martinsville.

Kahne understands patience will be important in Sunday’s race at the tight half-mile racetrack.

“You won’t know until lap 250 what you have. After that you will realize how good or bad you are,” said Kahne.

Clint Bowyer will start fourth in Sunday’s race followed by Ryan Newman. Rounding out the top 10 will be Brian Vickers in sixth, Brad Keselowski in seventh, Kyle Busch in eighth, Jeff Gordon in ninth and Joey Logano in 10^th.

Good seats remain for Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 and may be purchased by calling 877.RACE.TIX or online at www.martinsvillespeedway.com.

The Goody’s Fast Relief 500 is scheduled to take the green flag at 1 p.m. Sunday. Fan gates open at 9 a.m.