Bliss nabs second Truck Series pole of season

LEBANON, Tenn. -- Resurgent Craftsman Truck Series veteran Mike Bliss shattered the Nashville Superspeedway qualifying record Friday by some three-tenths of a second, landing him on the pole for the Federated Auto Parts 200.

FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 200 • Lineup • Happy Hour Speeds • 1st Practice Speeds • Race Facts

Bliss' 30.533-second lap at 157.322 mph marks his second pole of the 2002 campaign, and the 16th of his career.

Bliss credited his late draw in the qualifying order. The next-to-last driver to qualify, Bliss took full advantage of the evening's cooler track conditions.

"I think going late was the big draw," said Bliss, the series points leader.

"Didn't help me," third-place qualifier Ted Musgrave shot back.

"I was just trying to be nice," Bliss joked.

Musgrave, the third-quickest qualifier behind Bliss and David Starr, wasn't amused.

"You stink," he laughed as Bliss strolled into the post-race press conference.

	Mike Bliss leads the Craftsman Truck Series points standings. Credit: Autostock

Smelly or not, Bliss was plenty fast Friday. His quick lap was three-tenths of a second faster than Scott Riggs' former track record, set in the inaugural event one year ago. Riggs went on to Victory Lane the following night. Bliss is focused on a similar outcome.

"It stuck really good, I was surprised how well in stuck, actually," Bliss said. "It wasn't that good in practice, but the weather changed a hell of a lot. It's great for the team, builds morale."

Along with Terry Cook -- whom Bliss leads by five points heading into Saturday night's race (9 p.m., ET, ESPN, MRN Radio) -- Bliss has been the man to beat of late in CTS competition. He and Cook have combined to win five of the past six events.

Bliss won the event at Kentucky Speedway -- a track similar to Nashville -- going away.

"We've been running good on these kinds of tracks," Bliss said. "Track position is always good. I'm always a slow starter. Our trucks are always good on longer runs than short. I hope we have another Kentucky race, where we ran well the whole time."

Starr rolls off second, followed by Musgrave, Robert Pressley and Travis Kvapil. Jason Leffler, Bobby Hamilton, Jr., Rick Crawford, Cook and Mike Wallace round out the top 10.

Musgrave expects a stellar show Saturday night, despite the fact that last year's event was a runaway for Riggs.

"Tomorrow night will be a very close finish," Musgrave said. "Everybody is really close in practice. It's going to be a heck of a show tomorrow -- we'll make it that way."