BRISTOL, Tenn. – Greg Biffle knows he won’t be perfect all season.

He’ll take what he can get right now.

The Sprint Cup points leader continued his strong start to the season Friday by winning the pole at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“I know this isn’t going to last all season but I’m enjoying the hell out of it right now,” Biffle said.

He turned a lap of 125.215 mph in his Roush Fenway Racing Ford to take the top qualifying spot for Sunday’s race. Biffle has opened the season with three third-place finishes, and has not qualified lower than ninth.

“I gotta pinch myself. I think I’m dreaming,” he said. “I’m having a great time, the time of my life.”

It’s the 10th pole of Biffle’s career but his first at Bristol. He’s credited his strong start to an offseason overhaul to his No. 16 team. Biffle has a new crew chief in Matt Puccia, and every crew member was changed.

“They are a great group of guys. I’m happy to have them,” Biffle said. “Just plain and simply Matt Puccia is the reason why we’re running and competing and finishing where we are. This team needed leadership and he was willing to step up and take the task on and he’s done a fantastic job so far.”

A.J. Allmendinger qualified second in a Penske Racing Dodge. It’s his first top-10 starting position of 2012 but third in 10 previous Cup races at Bristol.

Allmendinger has had a rough start to his first season with Penske, opening the year with a 34th-place finish at Daytona followed by an 18th at Phoenix and a 37th at Las Vegas.

“This has never been a place that I’m really good at,” Allmendinger said. “We tested this week and learned some things, came into here, and was able to put them on the race car and really just have a solid day overall. We’ve had a tough start to the season, and definitely not the way we imagined when we signed. But it’s still early.”

Ryan Newman qualified third in a Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Jeff Gordon qualified fourth in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski was fifth to put both Penske cars in the top five.

FIVE-TIME NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson said Hendrick Motorsports has no plans yet to replace his crew chief and car chief if their suspensions are not overturned.

Crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec go before NASCAR’s chief appellate officer Tuesday, trying to reverse their six-race suspensions. Knaus was also fined $100,000 and Johnson was docked 25 points because NASCAR found illegal modifications on the No. 48 Chevrolet in the opening inspection for the Daytona 500.

A three-member appeals panel upheld the penalties this week.

The hearing before John Middlebrook next week is the final step in the appeals process. Middlebrook has heard three appeals since being named NASCAR’s final arbitrator in 2010, and although he did not overturn any of the rulings, he reduced a portion of the penalties in all three cases.