Everham drivers take top spots for Coca-Cola 600

CONCORD, N.C. -- Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield made it an all-Evernham Motorsports front row Thursday by taking the top two qualifying spots for the Coca-Cola 600.

Riggs, who went out midway through qualifying, put himself on the pole with a lap of 187.865 mph. He then had to wait out the competition, which included Jimmie Johnson, winner of seven of the last 10 races at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Johnson just missed bumping him off the pole, then Riggs only had his teammate to worry about. Mayfield was the final driver to qualify, and his first lap of 187.292 was good enough for second place.

Riggs let out a sigh of relief while Mayfield, who is having a horrendous season, celebrated his near-miss.

"My teammate put a lap down that we couldn't touch," Mayfield said. "It's cool to see an Evernham front row for a change."

It was the second consecutive pole at Lowe's for Riggs, who took the top starting spot for the Nextel Open last week. He won that race to earn a spot into the All-Star Challenge, and finished 10th.

Johnson, who is going for his fourth consecutive 600 win, will start third. J.J. Yeley will start fourth in his first start in NASCAR's longest race of the year.

Michael Waltrip failed to qualify, snapping his consecutive start streak at 261 races. He had not missed an event since Phoenix in October of 1998.