CONCORD, N.C., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Jeff Burton blistered Lowe's Motor Speedway at nearly 180 miles per hour Friday to capture the pole for the NASCAR Busch Grand National series Little Trees 300.
Driving a Ford Taurus, Burton covered the 1 1/2-mile paved speedway in 30.086 seconds for a speed of 179.485 mph. He erased last year's mark of 178.956 mph set by defending race winner Matt Kenseth.
"We were fast this morning, right off the bat, right off the truck," said Burton, also a regular on the Winston Cup circuit.
Burton finished 10th in this event last year. His only Busch win this season came just over a month ago in the South Carolina 200 at Darlington Raceway.
This also is the track where Burton claimed his only Winston Cup win this year, the Coca-Cola 600 in May.
Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip will start a season-best second as he qualified his Chevrolet Monte Carlo at 178.909 mph.
The second row will consist of the Ford of Greg Biffle, the leading rookie on the circuit, and the Chevrolet of Ward Burton, Jeff's brother. Biffle has won three times this year, but not since early July.
Todd Bodine rounded out the top five in a Chevrolet and series points leaders Kevin Harvick and Jeff Green both will start in the top 10 Saturday.
Harvick, who has won a series-high five races this season, will start ninth in a Chevrolet. He has 4,101 points, 187 more than Green, a four-time winner who will start sixth in a Ford and has been steadily closing the gap with five races left.
Kenseth starts 13th in a Chevrolet. His win here last year marked the last time on the Busch circuit that a pole sitter has taken the checkered flag, a span of 32 races.
