#48-Jimmie Johnson shattered the track record today and captured his second Bud Pole of the season for Sunday’s Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway. His time of 29.938 (180.373 mph) was over 1/10th of a second quicker than #01-Mike Skinner. In fact, if you wanted to start in the Top-20 for Sunday’s event, you just about had to break the previous track record to do it. The top 18 in the rundown today did just that! Nothing like cool and overcast conditions to create some speed. This is the second top-spot for Johnson this season (he started from the point at Pocono in June), and the 6th of his short career. Had a rarity today…..a three-way tie on time. And, NASCAR.com hopefully will get it corrected before race time. #97-Kurt Busch, #16-Greg Biffle, and #54-Todd Bodine all ran 30.372 (177.795 mph) and ties are broken by owner points, so it’s Kurt in 21st, Biffle in 22nd, and Todd in 23rd. #18-Bobby Labonte (4th) has his best starting spot since he grabbed the pole at Michigan in August. #2-Rusty Wallace (5th) has his best starting spot since he started 5th at Watkins Glen in August. #6-Jason Leffler (6th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 6th at Michigan in June. #9-Bill Elliott (8th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 3rd at The Brickyard in August. #43-Jeff Green (9th) had his best qualifying run since he grabbed the pole for the Daytona 500. #30-Steve Park (17th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 16th at Pocono in July. #35-Bobby Hamilton Jr (18th) has his best starting spot since he qualified 15th at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May of 2001! (only 10 starts) STREAKIN….Jeff Gordon has 5 Top-10 starts in a row. Jimmie Johnson has 5 Top-10 starts in the last 6 races. Matt Kenseth crashed in practice this morning, and had trouble getting the backup up to speed….so, for the second week in a row he used a provisional to make the field. He’s joined at the back by: Mark Martin, Ward Burton, John Andretti, Derrike Cope, Mike Wallace, and Ken Schrader. The Trouble Train is a short one this week….Larry Foyt and Johnny Sauter get the gate.( StockCarFans.Com Wcup Newsletter )(10-3-2003)
