Waltrip wins Busch pole

KANSAS CITY, Kan., Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Michael Waltrip set a track record at the Kansas Speedway Friday to grab the pole position for Saturday's NASCAR Busch Grand National series Mr. Goodcents 300.

Waltrip lapped the 1 1/2-mile oval in 30.887 seconds and averaged 174.831 miles per hour in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo to claim his first Busch series pole in five years. He broke Kevin Lepage's record lap of 174.210 mph, set last year.

With one win in 14 Busch Series starts this season, Waltrip last start from the top spot in the grid in September 1997 at Richmond and earned his 12th career Busch Series pole Friday. He has nine career Busch Series wins, with his most recent coming last month at Michigan International Speedway.

Jeff Burton put his Ford second with a lap at 31.051 seconds and 173.907 mph, giving Winston Cup drivers a sweep of the front row. Burton has two wins on the Busch Series this season.

"We tested here in the Busch car for a day and worked mostly on race stuff," Burton said. "We tried a qualifying run this morning and the car was pretty evil, (so) we changed a bunch of stuff for qualifying and it worked pretty well.

"Michael (Waltrip) worked on qualifying all morning, (but) we felt like the more time we spent on race stuff, the better chance we had to win."

Splitting time between the Winston Cup and Busch circuits, Todd Bodine will start third in his Chevrolet after averaging 173.472 mph.

Jimmy Spencer took the fourth spot at 173.449 mph in a Chevrolet, followed by Busch Series championship contender Jason Keller in a Ford. Keller trails Greg Biffle by 35 points in the series standings.

Defending race winner Jeff Green, Stacy Compton, Johnny Sauter, Shane Hmiel and Ron Hornaday fill out the top 10.

Saturday's race is the 28th of a 34-event season.