Concord, NC (Best E Casino) - Sprint Cup points leader Kyle Busch captured the pole for Sunday afternoon/evening's Coca-Cola 600 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. The No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota circled the fast 1.5-mile, tri-oval in 29.121 seconds (185.433 m.p.h.).
The pole victory was Busch's second of the season and fourth of his Sprint Cup career.
"I can't say enough about the guys," said Busch. "We keep working and working. We weren't right in practice and I made them change a lot of stuff. The guys went to work and figured out what we were missing."
Starting alongside Busch will be Sprint Cup All-Star Race winner Kasey Kahne who posted a time of 29.142 seconds.
Brian Vickers (29.150) and Greg Biffle (29.194) will make up row two.
Other drivers of note and their starting positions: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (sixth), Mark Martin (seventh), Jimmie Johnson (10th), Matt Kenseth (12th), Jeff Burton (14th), Jeff Gordon (18th), Kevin Harvick (19th), Carl Edwards (30th) and Tony Stewart (31st).
The last time the series was in real action, Busch won in Darlington to expand his championship lead to 79 points over Jeff Burton and annoy all the Earnhardt Jr. fans, who were still mad at the No.18 JGR driver for an accident in Richmond.
Casey Mears won last year's race, beating the field and J.J. Yeley by 9.561 seconds in a late-race fuel run. Dodge drivers Kyle Petty and Sorenson finished third and fourth, respectively.
But this is normally a great race for Johnson and the No.48 Hendrick Motorsports team. Johnson has made 13 starts at his sponsor's track, winning two poles, five races and collecting 11 top-10s. In fact, between May 2003 and May 2006 Johnson never finished lower than third. Last year he slumped, finishing 10th in the spring and 14th in the fall event.
Johnson's teammate Gordon also owns five wins and seven poles at Lowe's, including a win there during the Sprint Cup championship last October.
This is the longest "Cup" race of the year - 400 laps and 600 miles and will test both man and machine.
Green flag is scheduled to drop on Sunday around 5:30 p.m. (et).
