Biffle had been third fastest earlier in practice but was able to pick up nearly half a second on his qualifying lap to beat the previous benchmark set by Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin. Stewart Haas' Ryan Newman and Biffle's Roush team-mate Matt Kenseth had been faster in practice but could not beat the pole-winner after running last in the qualifying order, ending up third and second respectively.
Biffle's pole lap speed of 190.345 mph (37.830 seconds) stands as a new record for the current specification of Cup car at the track, which first ran at the two-mile oval in 2008.
"I don't think that could have gone any better, I tell you what," said Biffle. "This team has needed it. We have great cars and I can't say enough for [crew chief] Matt Puccia and this #16 team. They work really hard and I am proud of them.
"All of a sudden Matt is becoming a hell of a qualifier. He makes fun of himself when he gets up there and says that the throttle sticks. What a great job for the whole Ford camp... I can't wait for Sunday."
Carl Edwards was the lowest Roush Fenway qualifier, ending up only 22nd following struggles in practice, while the other three Ford Fusions fielded by the team were up in top seven spots.
Two-time Michigan winner Denny Hamlin was fourth, meaning he beat his Joe Gibbs Racing team-mates in his first qualifying session running Toyota Racing Development engines, having feared reliability issues would put him out of Chase contention only four weeks before the play-off field is set. In the sister Gibbs cars, Kyle Busch was 17th fastest, while Joey Logano - who had a spin in practice - was 23rd running the Joe Gibbs Racing engines the team has used all year long.
Hendrick Motorsports' Mark Martin rounded out the top five ahead of Penske's local hero Brad Keselowski, Roush's David Ragan and Dale Earnhardt Jr, who held provisional pole at the track where he last claimed victory 115 races ago. His team-mate Jeff Gordon and Earnhardt Ganassi's Jamie McMurray completed the top 10.
Wood Brothers Racing's Trevor Bayne was the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers in 20th, while Johnny Sauter (subbing for Robby Gordon, who is at the Nationwide Series event in Montreal), Erik Darnell and TJ Bell failed to make the field.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 37.826s 2. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford 37.853s + 0.027s 3. Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Chevrolet 37.980s + 0.154s 4. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota 38.036s + 0.210s 5. Mark Martin Hendrick Chevrolet 38.057s + 0.231s 6. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 38.094s + 0.268s 7. David Ragan Roush Fenway Ford 38.149s + 0.323s 8. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 38.162s + 0.336s 9. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 38.176s + 0.350s 10. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 38.204s + 0.378s 11. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 38.221s + 0.395s 12. David Reutimann Waltrip Toyota 38.226s + 0.400s 13. Kurt Busch Penske Dodge 38.251s + 0.425s 14. Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota 38.275s + 0.449s 15. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 38.280s + 0.454s 16. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 38.286s + 0.460s 17. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota 38.297s + 0.471s 18. Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Chevrolet 38.298s + 0.472s 19. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 38.344s + 0.518s 20. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford 38.347s + 0.521s 21. Casey Mears Germain Toyota 38.357s + 0.531s 22. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 38.364s + 0.538s 23. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota 38.369s + 0.543s 24. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 38.414s + 0.588s 25. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 38.504s + 0.678s 26. Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 38.519s + 0.693s 27. Travis Kvapil Front Row Ford 38.534s + 0.708s 28. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 38.564s + 0.738s 29. AJ Allmendinger Petty Ford 38.583s + 0.757s 30. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 38.639s + 0.813s 31. JJ Yeley Front Row Ford 38.650s + 0.824s 32. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 38.661s + 0.835s 33. Landon Cassill Phoenix Chevrolet 38.788s + 0.962s 34. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 38.814s + 0.988s 35. Clint Bowyer Childress Chevrolet 38.834s + 1.008s 36. David Stremme Inception Chevrolet 38.851s + 1.025s 37. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 38.864s + 1.038s 38. Andy Lally TRG Chevrolet 38.889s + 1.063s 39. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 38.933s + 1.107s 40. Todd Bodine HP Toyota 38.953s + 1.127s 41. Tony Raines Front Row Ford 39.229s + 1.403s 42. Ken Schrader FAS Lane Ford 39.294s + 1.468s 43. Mike Skinner Germain Toyota 39.298s + 1.472s 44. Johnny Sauter Gordon Dodge 39.384s + 1.558s 45. Erik Darnell Whitney Chevrolet 39.547s + 1.721s 46. TJ Bell LTD Toyota 39.720s + 1.894s
