Truex Jr. wins Busch Pole with record effort

Speed the order of the day at Kentucky

SPARTA, Ky. (AP) -- Martin Truex Jr. won the pole on Friday for the NASCAR Busch Series Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway, topping a record-setting qualifying session.

	Martin Truex Jr. has five Busch Pole Awards in 2004. Credit: Autostock

Truex, the series points leader, reached a top speed of 180.102 mph in his Chevrolet around the 1.5-mile track in warm, humid conditions. He broke the track and event record held for barely 15 minutes by Kyle Busch, who turned in a lap of 179.832 mph in his Chevrolet.

Kenny Wallace, the first driver to qualify his car, initially broke the mark with an opening lap of 178.089 mph, also in a Chevrolet. But he eventually qualified only sixth, as defending race champion Bobby Hamilton Jr. (179.605 mph), Jason Leffler (178.992) and Robby Gordon (178.093) passed him after Truex and Busch qualified for Saturday's race.

Stacy Compton set the former record of 176.384 mph last year. Thirteen drivers exceeded that speed in qualifying Friday.

"We were able to make our car just about perfect for qualifying, and that's what you try to do," Truex said.

MEIJER 300  •  Lineup

Truex, who hadn't won a Busch Series pole before this year, has won five in 2004, including the last two. He started on the pole last week at Nashville Superspeedway for the Federated Auto Parts 300 and finished second behind Leffler.

Truex, a 23-year-old driver from Mayetta, N.J., was second two weeks ago in the MBNA America 200 at Dover International Speedway. He's won four Busch Series races this year, including one from the pole -- the Charter 250 at Gateway International Raceway.

He started and finished 21st in last year's Meijer 300, his only previous start at Kentucky Speedway,

	Kyle Busch will start second on Saturday evening at Kentucky. Credit: Autostock

Busch, a 19-year-old racer from Las Vegas, had the fastest practice time Friday, turning in a lap at 179.033 mph. He is a two-time Busch Series winner this year and is second on the series points list.

During one stretch in April and May, Truex and Busch combined to win five of six races on the circuit.

Hamilton, fourth in the points standings, won a series-high four races last year, with the first victory coming at Kentucky Speedway.

Leffler is seventh in the points standings while Gordon is 13th. Gordon also is running on Sunday in the DHL 400 at Michigan International Speedway on the Nextel Cup circuit. He finished fifth in qualifying for that race earlier Friday.