HAMPTON, Georgia — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole of his career on Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His previous best qualifying effort of a difficult first full Cup season was third at Kansas. Carl Edwards wound up second-fastest, giving him a starting spot on the outside of the front row for Sunday's race — the penultimate event before the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship begins. Stenhouse has struggled as a Cup rookie. Juan Pablo Montoya and Denny Hamlin earned spots on the second row. The rest of the top 10 was Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson. — AP