Biffle, Jo. Sauter on front row at Memphis

MILLINGTON, Tenn. -- Being the points leader with four races remaining in the Busch Series schedule is a good thing. Starting on the Bud Pole for a race is even better.

	Greg Biffle earned his sixth career Busch Series Bud Pole Award on Friday at Memphis. Credit: VPS Motorimages

Just ask Greg Biffle.

Biffle, driver of the No. 60 Grainger Ford, will lead the 43-car field to the green flag on the .750-mile oval of Memphis Motorsports Park for the Sam's Town 250 on Saturday.

After 55 drivers completed their two laps of qualifying, Biffle was quickest a winning speed of 116.817 mph. This is Biffle's fourth pole of the year and sixth of his Busch Series career.

Biffle leads Jason Keller by 168 points in the championship battle. Keller qualified 14th.

"I never, ever would have dreamed that that time would have held up for the pole," Biffle said. "I hit the curb down in Turns 1 and 2.

"It (the lap) might have been a little better, but I hit that curb and moved up four and five feet there. This is really a big boost to team confidence right now. We -- I should say I -- haven't been qualifying worth a dang.

SAM'S TOWN 250  •  Lineup  •  Happy Hour Speeds  •  2nd Practice Speeds  •  1st Practice Speeds

"We've been racing real well. Qualifying up front is important, especially at a short track like this one. I know that Keller qualified 14th -- I'm keeping an eye on him."

To which Randy LaJoie quipped to Biffle, "Well, I don't think he'll lead the first lap."

Starting outside of Biffle will be rookie Johnny Sauter -- it was his best qualifying effort since sitting on the pole at Talladega.

"I've always done well here," Sauter said. "We came here last year in ASA, sat on the pole and won the race. I was in the No. 21 Chevy Busch car (owned by Richard Childress Racing) last year and led for awhile before I had a bad pit stop.

"We came here and tested earlier this year and that was a big help. This is one of my last legitimate chances to win a race this year."

LaJoie, the defending race winner, qualified third. Rookie Shane Hmiel was fourth.

For LaJoie, this will be his best start since getting the pole at St. Louis in July. With less than a handful of races left, LaJoie is looking to keep his streak alive of six consecutive years with a victory. Lajoie's best finish this year is third.

"Yes, I want to keep that streak alive," LaJoie said. "I'll tell you one thing --- not winning pretty much sucks. I'm trying everything I can to win.

"With me, nine times out of ten, my qualifying laps are the fastest I run between that and practice. The car performed as well as I thought it was going to. It's definitely a lot better to start third than 33rd, so I'm really looking forward to racing here."

Rounding out the top 10 will be David Reutimann, Scott Wimmer, Tim Fedewa, Stacy Compton, Mike McLaughlin and Ron Hornaday.

Scott Riggs and Coy Gibbs will start at the back of the pack. Riggs crashed his Ford during practice and damaged it enough to bring out the back up car. Gibbs changed motors after the first practice session.

Provisionals were taken by Jamie McMurray, who won the Winston Cup Series race at Charlotte last weekend, Tim Sauter, Larry Foyt, Ron Young, Dana White, Joe Buford and Larry Gunselman.

Failing to make the race were Stanton Barrett, John Hayden, Jody Lavender, Jason Shuler, Brian Reffner, Mike Harmon, Chris Fontaine, Chad Chaffin, Michael Dokken, Dan Pardus, Justin Ashburn and Butch Jarvis.