Biffle captures Bud Pole for Busch Series finale

Greg Biffle captured the Bud Pole on Thursday for Saturday's Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

	Greg Biffle

Biffle toured the 1.5-mile speedway in 30.437 seconds at a speed of 177.416 miles per hour.

The new variable banking the speedway added earlier this year -- up to 20 degrees in spots -- paid immediate divdends, as every car that made an attempt obliterated the old track record of 152.031 mph, set last year by Jeff Green.

Biffle, who expects to run the full 2004 Busch Series schedule in a Roush Racing Ford, as well as his full Winston Cup schedule in the No. 16 Grainger Ford, was grinning after winning his second Busch Series pole this season, in 14 races.

"The racetrack is going to be fun to drive and race on," Biffle said. "I'm going to go out there and say it's going to be one of the best places to put on a race (because) we've been two- and three-wide in practice and testing already.

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"The racetrack has a lot of grip (but) it changed a lot in qualifying, which I'm kind of baffled at right now. We went 30-flat earlier in practice, not a lot has changed and it lost a ton of grip in qualifying."

Bobby Hamilton Jr. will share the front row with Biffle for Saturday's season finale after posting a lap of 30.448/177.352.

"We've always run strong here, but it's a totally different animal now," Hamilton Jr. said. "With the different track and the different tire, there are all kinds of puzzles to figure out before Saturday."

Saturday's race will end a roller-coaster championship battle, in which five drivers can mathematically claim the championship when the checkered flag flies.

Points leader Brian Vickers qualified sixth fastest. David Green, who is 22 points behind Vickers, will start 12th.

	Biffle's No. 7 Chevrolet will lead the field to the green flag for the second time this season Saturday in Miami. Credit: AP

Ron Hornaday, who sits third in points, 39 behind Vickers, starts 17th. Fourth-place driver Jason Keller, 70 points back, starts 30th and fifth-place Scott Riggs, 85 points back, starts 20th.

Hamilton will enter the race sixth in the series standings, just 89 points behind leader Brian Vickers. Still, Hamilton Jr. doesn't have very high hopes heading into Saturday, as far as the championship is concerned.

"Overall, in reality, you can get to about fourth," he said. "Those guys in front will have to have a little bit of bad luck and we're going to have to win the race or something."

Kasey Kahne (30.532/176.864), Kevin Harvick (30.535/176.846) and Jamie McMurray (30.558/176.713) round out Thursday's top five qualifiers.