Associated Press

A crew member for Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet works on the car in the garage area after Johnson hit the wall on Friday.

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- The key to tonight's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway simply could be survival.

A repaved track creates higher speeds and less room for error. At least four drivers, including a former champion, qualified with backup cars after crashing in practice Friday.

More bounced off the wall in qualifying Friday night.

Jimmie Johnson, Robby Gordon, Reed Sorenson and Paul Menard all went to backup cars after incidents with the wall in practice Friday.

"You're riding on the edge and when you go over the edge, there's no warning, it just goes,'' Kevin Harvick said. "That's just the hard tire and the new racetrack and the high speeds.''

Denny Hamlin says there could be a number of accidents tonight.

"When you run that close to the wall and then you get guys that try to pass each other, if someone doesn't want to give, it's going to cause a lot of wrecks,'' he said.

Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne, Casey Mears and Gordon hit the wall in qualifying.

Qualifying

Greg Biffle won his first pole of the season and fifth of his career with a track-record lap of 179.442 mph.

Biffle's mark eclipses Ward Burton's track record of 173.797 mph set in 1996.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified second at 179.357 mph. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson, was third at 179.206 mph. Tony Stewart (179.076) and Kurt Busch (178.965) completed the top five.

Kyle Busch starts sixth.

Johnson's effort completes a wild day where he wrecked in two different cars.

"You know it's tough when (Johnson) wrecks twice,'' Biffle said.

Johnson crashed in the first practice session Friday, hitting the wall in turn 1 and went to a backup car. He slid out of turn 4 in the second practice session while driving the backup car and skidded down the frontstretch until clipping the inside wall with his left front. Johnson called the damage "cosmetic.'' The team repaired the backup car and he'll drive it tonight.

Jeff Green and Johnny Sauter failed to qualify.

Sitting pretty

Clint Bowyer's victory at Richmond last week was overshadowed by the late-race contact between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch as they raced for first. Bowyer isn't worried about the lack of attention.

"I know where the trophy went, and I know where the money went,'' Bowyer said. "That's all I care about.''

Healing

Denny Hamlin says his left hip, injured in a pick-up basketball game last weekend, is feeling better.

"At least I'm able to sleep on it now,'' Hamlin said. "It really doesn't affect me too much when I'm able to sit down inside the car.''

Hamlin was one of two drivers who failed to make Friday's Nationwide race. Hamlin hit the wall on his qualifying lap. He had won the past two Nationwide poles and races at Darlington.

Pit stops

Greg Biffle said he's not had any new contract talks with Roush Fenway Racing, citing a busy schedule that had him testing for two days this week at Lowe's Motor Speedway. ... Darlington Raceway officials announced a sellout for tonight's race. ... Trevor Bayne, a development driver for Dale Earnhardt Inc., was treated and released from a local hospital after being involved in a multi-car crash on the way to work at DEI on Friday morning. ... The season-ending banquet for the Cup series will be Dec. 5 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, NASCAR announced Friday.