Earnhardt Jr. captures Bud Pole at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. wasted little time in erasing Jason Leffler's year-old NASCAR Winston Cup Bud Pole Qualifying record Friday at Kansas Speedway.

	Dale Earnhardt Jr. set a track record Friday at Kansas. Credit: Autostock

Earnhardt Jr. -- who revealed in an Associated Press report only a day earlier a head injury in April had affected his performance -- won the top starting spot for Sunday's Protection One 400 with a lap in 30.350 seconds, an average speed of 177.924 mph.

He said his speed shocked him as the lap didn't feel that quick.

"I was surprised we were that quick," he said. "Honestly, I thought it was more like a (30.) 50 or 60 -- like we ran in practice and that I was just hoping to back-up to get us a good top-five starting spot."

Junior was the seventh of 46 drivers to make an attempt on the 1.5-mile oval and he edged Raybestos Rookie of the Year standouts Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman, who took turns making runs at Earnhardt Jr.

"It's hard when you've got guys like Jimmie and Ryan out there qualifying as fast as they are every week. It's a tough competition trying to get a pole. These guys can lay down some good laps and I'm real proud to be able to beat them."

Each fell just an eyelash short of upsetting Junior's run to his sixth career pole and his second of the season. His most recent was six races ago at Michigan International Speedway.

ALSO Junior sets the track record at Kansas. Play video Earnhardt Jr. wins his second Bud Pole of the season. Play video  •  Junior's Driver Page  •  Lineup  •  Photo Gallery  •  Race Facts  •  1st Practice Speeds

Winston Cup championship second man Johnson ended up only .012 seconds behind Earnhardt Jr. Newman, who leads the rookie of the year standings, was .176 back.

The top three starters eclipsed Leffler's 176.499 mph run from a year ago.

Johnson has been on an absolute rampage this season with four Bud Poles of his own. Newman also has three poles and was second in this race a year ago.

Johnson rebounded from crashing a car in a test at Kentucky Speedway, and revealed his team had stopped at the Sparta 1.5-mile oval in its way to Kansas to test briefly, again.

"I'm not disappointed," Johnson said. "I'd love to have it but I went out there and gave it 100 percent. Just a little bit is all we needed but hat is off to Dale Jr. and that whole crew -- that's a heck of a lap."

"We didn't have what Junior had, but overall it was just a good effort," Newman said. "It wasn't what we were looking for, but overall we're happy.

"It's been a pretty good track for us statistically. We had the ARCA pole here. We crashed in qualifying practice in the Cup car last year and took our backup car out cold turkey and qualified 17th or 18th and worked our way up through the field and finished second."

Busch Series Mr. Goodcents 300 pole winner Michael Waltrip and Bill Elliott round out the top-five starters.

The other three chief championship contenders all qualified in the top-10. Dale Jarrett, former point leader Sterling Marlin, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin and defending race winner Jeff Gordon qualified sixth-10th.

Martin, who took the championship lead from Marlin two races ago, had only practiced 36th best before qualifying and had a simple explanation for finding speed.

"Ignorance," Martin said with a laugh. "I drove like a young, dumb rookie I think -- because there's no way I should have made it around. I know I couldn't do it again, but I'm real happy with that.

	Jimmie Johnson will join Earnhardt Jr. in the front row Sunday. Credit: Autostock

"We've got a new car here and the car really didn't ever work that good for us. I feel like when we get in race set-up we'll be able to get a chance to kind of get it worked out. I think we'll be good for Sunday and, lucky for us, we're gonna get a decent starting spot, too."

Jimmy Spencer, Elliott Sadler, Ken Schrader, Casey Atwood, Jerry Nadeau, Stuart Kirby and Morgan Shepherd took provisional starting positions to line up 37th-43rd.

Schrader took the green flag but did not like the way his first lap shaped up so he slowed before reaching the start/finish line, reversed direction and drove all the way back to the pit exit to start over again. On account, his first lap averaged only a little over 36 mph, but his second wasn't fast enough to make the field, either.

Failing to make the race for the second straight week, due to a lack of provisionals, was owner/driver Brett Bodine; along with Carl Long and Kirk Shelmerdine.