PHOENIX, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Jimmy Spencer captured his second pole of the season with a record speed Thursday in qualifying for the NASCAR Busch Grand National series Outback Steakhouse 200.
Driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Spencer covered the one-mile paved Phoenix International Raceway in 27.410 seconds as he averaged 131.339 miles per hour, breaking the mark of 130.957 mph set last year by Jason Leffler.
"I didn't think we'd be sitting on the pole," Spencer said. "We changed air pressure, changed a couple of other things."
Spencer also won the pole for the NAPAonline.com 250 at Michigan Speedway in August. None of his three wins this year have come from the pole, however.
"The big thing here on Saturday is going to be getting the car to handle in the corners," Spencer said. "I know we have plenty of motor, we just gotta get our car to roll through the corners. That's the key at Phoenix."
Spencer will try to become the third Winston Cup regular to win this event. Jeff Gordon won the inaugural 1999 race and Jeff Burton won last year. However, both those drivers started from the third position.
Series points leader Kevin Harvick qualified second, also in a Chevrolet. Looking for his sixth win of the season, Harvick clocked 131.214 mph as he closes in on the season championship.
"These are new tires and I don't think many people came here and tested and it took a little while to get used to them," Harvick said.
Harvick has 4,431 points, 203 more than Jeff Green and 210 more than Jason Keller. Harvick -- who also has run virtually a full Winston Cup schedule -- has to average a 15th-place finish over the final three races to clinch the title.
Green qualified fifth and Keller 24th, both in Ford Tauruses. Green has won four races this season while Keller has won one.
The second row will be comprised of the Chevrolet of Matt Kenseth and the Ford of Greg Biffle. The top five qualifiers surpassed Leffler's mark.
Randy LaJoie, who won last week's Sam's Town 250, qualified 15th in a Chevrolet. Burton starts 19th in a Ford.
Randy Tolsma posted the sixth-best time but was moved to the back of the grid after unapproved springs were found on his Chevy.
