Texas starting lineup: Austin Dillon has pole position; Joey Logano tops Chase drivers

Austin Dillon will start from the pole position in Sunday's Texas AAA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Pumped. #CoorsLightPole https://t.co/sSOyXOSE1G

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 4, 2016

Dillon, who qualified for the Chase but was eliminated before this round, won the pole with a lap of 192.301 mph. Chase contender Joey Logano will start alongside him on the front row. Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson also qualified in the top five. Harvick also is a Chase contender.

MORE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. caught speeding | Eight drivers to watch at Texas

Sunday's race begins about 2:05 p.m. ET at the Fort Worth track. TV coverage will be by NBC. However, rain could arrive during the race.

Bad news NASCAR fans, looks like rain will arrive at @TXMotorSpeedway within an hour. Could be a long day, probably racing under the lights. pic.twitter.com/9LuRu1QC0U

— Andrew Gorton WALB (@AndrewGortonWx) November 6, 2016

"Man, that's huge," Dillon said in a post-qualifying interview. "It is our second pole of the year, and I can't be happier for RCR and everybody back at the shop. A lot of hard work and effort goes on. We missed the Chase by just two feet. We want to prove that we can win a race by the end of this year.

"This is big for us."

Congrats to @austindillon3 on the pole @TXMotorSpeedway. His dad couldn't drive a nail. 😉 So this is pretty cool bragging rights at home.

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) November 4, 2016

MORE: Kevin Harvick, winless at Texas, has bumpy road ahead

Even though Dillon is no longer in Chase contention, this is another sign of improvement for his Richard Childress Racing team.

"Truthfully, I felt like, together as a team, our team is very strong," he said. "We've just been missing here and there. It is going to be good to have another year with this group of guys to see what we can do next year."

Other Chase drivers in the top 10 are Matt Kenseth (seventh), Carl Edwards (ninth) and Kurt Busch (10th).

MORE: Tighter competition, greater mental pressure |  Racing against teammates gets tougher

Kyle Busch, running in a backup car after an incident in the opening practice session, had a coolant leak early in the second session, causing him to park his car between sessions. He will start 24th on Sunday, deepest among Chase contenders.

ICYMI — No.18 will be unable to continue in qualifying due to a water leak. He will start 24th Sunday. pic.twitter.com/KgpCzqU3FH

— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) November 4, 2016

Crew chief Adam Stevens said that in hurrying to change the engine, the lower radiator hose apparently wasn't completely clamped into place.

"We're going to start 24th and get after them from there," he said.

MORE: Johnson hungers for that record-tying title

Fellow Chase drivers Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson also will start deeper in the field than expected. Johnson, who is locked into Nov. 20's championship finale at Homestead-Miami by virtue of his win at Martinsville, will start 19th. Hamlin will start 17th.

Harvick and Edwards were the fastest in the second round.

Logano was fastest in the opening round, leading Kyle Busch and Harvick to put three Chase drivers at the front of the field in the segment. All eight Chase drivers advanced to the second round of qualifying.

Here is the full starting lineup. Chase drivers are in bold.