Skinner captures pole for Texas NCTS race

JUSTIN, Texas -- Mike Skinner captured the Bud Pole on Thursday for Friday night's Silverado 350 at Texas Motor Speedway, his seventh Bud Pole Award of the season and third in a row at Texas Motor Speedway.

Skinner toured the 1.5-mile oval in 29.574 seconds, an average speed of 182.593 miles per hour.

"That was a real nail biter," Skinner said. "I don't know what we did because there were other fast trucks. We just had a good truck and I hit my marks really well.

	Mike Skinner Credit: Nate Mecha/HSP
	SILVERADO 350 •   Lineup

"Our Tundra really drove well," Skinner said. "We've worked on nothing but race setup. A lot of times we'll work on qualifying setup."

Now, Skinner said, the pressure shifts to his crew for Friday night's race.

"Jeff (Hensely, crew chief) has to be blessed with good calls on the pit box," Skinner said. "I have to give Jeff good feedback to make the good calls.

"It's not any one guy that can do this. We have to do this together."

Surprisingly, Skinner said that starting Friday's race from the pole might actually be a disadvantage.

"Starting on the pole usually isn't the place to be on these speedways because the guy starting third and the guy on the outside have a bit of an advantage.

Bill Lester qualified second, his fourth consecutive top-five start at Texas. Lester clocked in at 29.581/182.550.

"We're unveiling a new truck here," Lester said. "This is the first time this truck has been on the track. We found out what it wanted, and after the adjustments were made, it did pretty good. I'm just hoping it's as good tomorrow night as it was tonight."

Terry Cook qualified third at 29.591/182.448. It's his highest starting spot since Dover in June.

"The horsepower is unbelievable," Cook said. "We brought a new truck, and it's the strongest engine I've ever had."

Kyle Busch, last week's winner at Atlanta and Todd Kluever rounded out the top five.