CONCORD, N.C. (AP) ‘ Kyle Busch declined a $50 bill from outgoing Lowe’s Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler on Thursday, then continued his qualifying dominance at the track to earn the pole for the Coca-Cola 600. Busch laughed off the offer from Wheeler, who was patrolling pit road a day after announcing he’ll retire after 33 years at the track. Busch’s then turned in a lap of 185.433 mph (298.425 kph) in his No. 18 Toyota to edge out last week’s All-Star race winner Kasey Kahne (185.300 mph; 298.211 kph), who will join him on the front row Sunday for NASCAR’s longest race. ‘He took a fifty out of his pocket and then he was signing it,’ the superstitious Busch said of Wheeler. ‘I said, ‘I don’t want that.’ He gave it to one my crew guys and I said, ‘Don’t take that.’ So I put it back in his pocket.’ Brian Vickers qualified third, giving Toyota two of the top three spots. Greg Biffle will start fourth, followed by David Ragan and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Busch started from the pole in last week’s All-Star race and dominated early before bowing out with engine trouble. Busch also started from the pole for last week’s Craftsman Truck Series race. He led the most laps, but was involved in a wreck and finished 13th. Busch will be the favorite to win his fourth Sprint Cup race of the season on Sunday. He has seven top-five finishes in 11 races and holds a 79-point lead over Jeff Burton in the season standings. ‘I hope it doesn’t wear off. I hope I’m not just here for this year and then I’m done and all washed up at 24 years old,’ Busch said. ‘That would be pretty bad, wouldn’t it? We just got to keep going, keep working hard.’ Busch told reporters two hours before qualifying that he didn’t have a car capable of the pole. But after his crew worked on it, Busch went out 22nd out of 48 cars, running a clean lap to overtake Kahne. ‘We had a good lap for what we had in practice,’ Kahne said. ‘It felt good. I knew Kyle and Brian would come close. We’re just looking forward to Sunday’s race. We’ll have a lot of time Saturday to work on the car, but I think we’ll have something Sunday.’ AJ Allmendinger, the Sprint Showdown winner last week who had to qualify on speed, made the field and will start 27th. Sam Hornish Jr., Sterling Marlin and Kyle Petty also made the field. Jeff Green, Stanton Barrett, Jon Wood, Joe Nemechek and Tony Raines failed to qualify for the 43-car race. Ryan Newman, who won the pole in both points races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last year, got high on the track on his first qualifying lap and failed to make up for it in the second lap. Newman, who has seven career poles here, will start 38th. Maybe it had to do with the old tale that keeps people away from $50 bills. ‘I learned something from being a Vegas boy,’ said Busch, who grew up in the gambling capital, where players are known to run away from casino tables when someone throws down a $50. Earnhardt took a signed $50 bill from Wheeler, the well-known NASCAR promoter. Earnhardt then joked that leaving it in his pocket for the qualifying run was the reason he wasn’t faster. But old wives’ tale or not, Busch has been the most dominant driver this season. Now Busch will try to overcome his famous impatience for Sunday’s marathon of 400 laps. ‘In the All-Star race we had a great shot to lead all the laps,’ Busch said. ‘I know that won’t happen, obviously, in the 600. But we’ve got a good starting spot where we can stay up front and bide our time.’ Today’s Starting Lineup The lineup for today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Coca-Cola 600, with each driver’s position, car number, name, make and qualifying time: 1. 18, Kyle Busch Toyota 29.121 seconds (185.433 m.p.h.) 2. 9, Kasey Kahne Dodge 29.142 3. 83, Brian Vickers Toyota 29.150 4. 16, Greg Biffle Ford 29.194 5. 6, David Ragan Ford 29.273 6. 88, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 29.278 7. 8, Mark Martin Chevrolet 29.319 8. 2, Kurt Busch Dodge 29.331 9. 19, Elliott Sadler Dodge 29.352 10. 48, Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 29.360 11. 22, Dave Blaney Toyota 29.373 12. 17, Matt Kenseth Ford 29.383 13. 66, Scott Riggs Chevrolet 29.400 14. 31, Jeff Burton Chevrolet 29.409 15. 26, Jamie McMurray Ford 29.415 16. 11, Denny Hamlin Toyota 29.435 17. 41, Reed Sorenson Dodge 29.437 18. 24, Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 29.438 19. 29, Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 29.439 20. 77, Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 29.452 21. 5, Casey Mears Chevrolet 29.464 22. 7, Robby Gordon Dodge 29.474 23. 43, Bobby Labonte Dodge 29.476 24. 1, Martin Truex, Jr. Chevrolet 29.481 25. 15, Paul Menard Chevrolet 29.487 26. 40, Sterling Marlin Dodge 29.499 27. 84, A.J. Allmendinger Toyota 29.532 28. 44, David Reutimann Toyota 29.552 29. 55, Michael Waltrip Toyota 29.558 30. 99, Carl Edwards Ford 29.643 31. 20, Tony Stewart Toyota 29.652 32. 38, David Gilliland Ford 29.667 33. 33, Ken Schrader Chevrolet 29.673 34. 10, Patrick Carpentier Dodge 29.692 35. 96, J.J. Yeley Toyota 29.715 36. 45, Kyle Petty Dodge 29.717 37. 01, Regan Smith Chevrolet 29.719 38. 12, Ryan Newman Dodge 29.747 39. 07, Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 29.755 40. 00, Michael McDowell Toyota 29.758 41. 28, Travis Kvapil Ford owner points 42. 42, Juan Montoya Dodge owner points 43. 70, Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 29.761
