Musgrave, Leffler claim front row at Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- It was another Dodge day afternoon Friday in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as Ultra Motorsports teammates Ted Musgrave and Jason Leffler grabbed front row starting spots for the Advance Auto Parts 250 at Martinsville Speedway.

Musgrave took the Bud Pole, laying down a lap of 92.864 mph (20.391 sec) in the No. 1 Mopar Dodge. Leffler wasn’t far behind with a lap of 92.746 mph (20.417 sec.) in the No. 2 ASE/Carquest Dodge.

The duo qualified first and second for the series' race at Darlington in March. However, it was Leffler besting Musgrave for the top spot there. This was Musgrave’s fourth career pole and second of 2002.

“We were good when we unloaded and were fastest in practice,” Musgrave said. “We decided in the off-season we were going to be making a bigger effort when it came to qualifying than we did last year.

“Last year we worked on race set ups more than we did qualifying. So, this shows that the effort with Gene Nead (crew chief) this year is paying off.”

After leading the first practice session, Musgrave was the first truck to take to the track for qualifying. However, following his attempt, it came to the attention of NASCAR than only one of his two laps was recorded on the scoring monitor. The equipment was checked for problems and qualifying resumed.

The rulebook states that each competitor will be allowed two consecutive laps for their qualifying attempt. So, NASCAR allowed Musgrave’s team to purchase a new set of tires and go back out to qualify with two consecutive laps.

“We had a funny feeling something was up when came down pit road and the times were different than what everyone else had on their watches,” Musgrave said. “We asked NASCAR what was going on and they told us what happened.

“It was unfortunate, but we weren’t too far off what we did the first time when we did go back out for qualifying run. So, I think we would have had the pole either way.”

Surprisingly, Andy Petree put the No. 33 Preen Chevrolet in the third spot in his first ever Craftsman Truck Series race with a lap of 91.945 mph (20.595 sec.)

“I am a little surprised,” Petree said. “To come in here and be the top Chevrolet is really something. There are a lot of good drivers out here.

“I knew it had to be a pretty good lap because I wasn’t able to put it to the mat coming off Turn 4 during practice. When they told me what my time was, I was pretty pleased.”

Winston Cup Series regular Kevin Harvick qualified 12th in his self-owned No. 6 Chevrolet. Starting six spots behind him in 18th will be three-time Winston Cup Series champion Darrell Waltrip.

Dennis Setzer qualified fifth, but post-qualifying inspection found that his left front spring exceeded minimum height requirements. As a result, the team was forced to take a provisional and will now start 33rd.

That was good news for Brendan Gaughan, who just made the field on speed in the No. 62 Dodge. But it was bad news for Dana White as he will now have to go home with Setzer taking a provional.

Race time is 2 p.m. (ET) Saturday and can be seen live on ESPN and heard on MRN Radio.