BRISTOL, Tenn., March 22 (UPI) -- Scott Riggs earned his first pole position in a NASCAR Busch Series race Friday, setting a qualifying record with a speed of 126.270 miles per hour at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Riggs can only hope that his qualifying performance translates to success Saturday in the Channellock 250. In the previous two weeks, he qualified fifth at Las Vegas and fourth at Darlington in his No. 10 Ford, but finished 34th and 20th, respectively, on race day.
This time, Riggs grabbed the pole with a 15.196-second lap that broke Kevin Harvick's qualifying record by more than one mile per hour.
"Those other times, like at Darlington, we qualified real well and weren't able to keep the car neutral during the race," Riggs said. "At a place like Bristol, I think I'll be OK."
Jeff Green qualified on the outside of the front row in his No. 21 Chevrolet with a speed of 125.773 mph.
"It was a good lap, but we've got to get a little better so we can win one of these races," Green said. "I think we're due."
Jason Keller, the series points leader, was third in a Ford at 124.452 mph.
"We were good when we unloaded in practice and were doing qualifying setups while Scott did race setups," Keller said. "He put my qualifying setup under his car and it looked like it worked a little better for him than it did for me."
Jimmy Spencer was fourth and Stacy Compton fifth in Chevrolets.
Harvick qualified 12th and Greg Biffle, who is second in the points standings, 18th.
