Busch wins first road course pole
Kurt Busch looked a lot like the driver he replaced in the No. 2 Penske South Racing Dodge on Friday when he took his first road course pole.
Busch moved from Roush Racing to the Penske team over the winter, taking over the seat left vacant by retired Rusty Wallace, one of the best road racers in NASCAR.
?There?s a little bit of Rusty in there, but there?s a lot of Roy,? said Busch, referring to crew chief Roy McCauley. ?It was a nice solid run today and we kept her on course.?
Busch, who has now qualified among the top six in five of six trips to Infineon Raceway, turned a lap of 93.055 mph to earn his second pole of the season and the fifth of his career.
The 2004 series champion got off to a slow start this season, but goes into today?s Dodge/Save Mart 350 12th in the standings, just 12 points behind 10th-place Greg Biffle.
?The team communication continues to grow,? said Busch, whose best finish here was third last year. ?I think I drove a conservative lap. You?re so nervous when you drive a road course, you overdrive the car every corner. You take it easy when you do your lap and it feels like it turns out better.?
Today?s race will be Busch?s 200th Nextel Cup start.
Jamie McMurray grabbed the other front row position with a run of 92.948, followed by Kevin Harvick at 92.889, Busch?s teammate Ryan Newman at 92.812 and road racing specialist Boris Said at 92.663.
McMurray said he ran a smooth lap but wished in retrospect he had pushed a little harder and possibly grabbed the pole.
?When my lap was over, I came on the radio and said I didn?t drive the car hard enough,? he said.
Harvick, who finished third here in 2003, obviously enjoyed his run.
?It?s nice to come here every year and have a lot of fun,? he said.
Behind Said, Kasey Kahne, Biffle, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Joe Nemechek rounded out the top 10.
Hometown favorite Jeff Gordon, from nearby Vallejo, who set the track qualifying record last year at 94.325, will be 11th on the grid after bobbling and almost losing it on his run.
?I got a little sideways going down through the esses. I didn?t think it was going to go that wide,? he said.
Rookie Denny Hamlin, the only driver to crash in practice, put his backup car in the 41st spot.
Clint Bowyer was the top rookie, qualifying 28th.
Failing to make the field were Johnny Miller, Chris Cook, Travis Kvapil, Stanton Barrett and Brian Simo. David Gilliland, who pulled a huge upset last weekend by winning the Busch Series race in Kentucky, overcame big odds to qualify 31st, earning his Cup debut.