#20-Mike Bliss broke the track qualifying record Friday with his lap at 171.238 mph to claim the pole for Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (4:00pm/et, FX). It’s the first NASCAR Busch Series pole for Bliss, who finished 10th in points but without a pole or win last season. Bliss, who started the year with 30th and 13th-place finishes, said he was looking to get a jump-start on his season. “I let the team down the last two races and I told them I was going to make it up to them this weekend,” he said. #25-Bobby Hamilton Jr. and #38-Kasey Kahne tied for the second-fastest speed (171.048 mph). Hamilton Jr. will get the second starting position by virtue of his higher finish in points last season. #8-Martin Truex Jr. was fourth and #00-Jason Leffler completed the top five. Kahne is using the same #38 Ford he drove to his first series win in last season’s season finale at Homestead. “I really like this track and I think we have a shot to win,” he said. “We’ve kind of started in a hole and this is a good place to get back on track.”(ThatsRacin.com), missing the race include: #50-David Starr and #74-Damon Lusk. #18-J.J. Yeley makes Busch debut starting 7th and #66-Billy ‘Catfish’ Parker starts 15th in the Rusty Wallace owned Duraflame Dodge.
For the lineups, see ThatsRacin.com, BGNRacing.com, MotorsportsOne or NASCAR.com.(3-5-2004)
