Australian Casey Stoner was imperious at Laguna Seca on Saturday, taking a fifth successive pole position by almost half a second.
Stoner, who won last year's United States Grand Prix from pole, continually bettered his own lap record on his Ducati Marlboro before setting a time of one minute 20.700 seconds, 1.5 seconds better than the previous best.
Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi, the only other rider in history to record five straight poles, was second fastest, 0.447secs adrift of Stoner, with American Nicky Haden completing the front row.
Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa missed the third and final qualifying session and has withdrawn from Sunday's race after suffering fractures to his left clutch finger and wrist and a sprained ankle in round 10 in Germany.
The Spaniard, who is second behind Rossi in the riders' standings, was in considerable pain during Friday's sessions and will miss his first race since 2003.
Stoner, seeking his 15th career win and his fifth of the season, was dominant in free practice on Friday and shot into first place just six minutes into the session.
It was a position he would not relinquish, setting an astonishing pace to continue his comeback bid for the title having won the last three races - in Britain, Holland and Germany - to move to third in the riders' standings.
Jorge Lorenzo was fourth fastest, with Randy de Puniet sixth, while 2007 race runner-up Chris Vermeulen starts on the third row after qualifying eighth quickest.
Qualifying times from the US MotoGP
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) 1:20.700
2. Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) 1:21.147
3. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team) 1:21.430
4. Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) 1:21.636
5. James Toseland (Tech 3 Yamaha) 1:21.848
6. Randy De Puniet (LCR Honda MotoGP) 1:21.921
7. Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha) 1:21.947
8. Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) 1:21.971
9. Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Team Scot MotoGP) 1:21.974
10. Toni Elias (Alice Team) 1:21.999
Also:
18. Anthony West (Kawasaki Racing Team) 1:24.525