FORT WORTH, Texas, March 27 (UPI) -- After qualifying second for the last three races, Jason Keller captured his first pole of the season Thursday for the NASCAR Busch Series O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Keller averaged 187.474 miles per hour in a Ford Taurus, covering the 1 1/2-mile paved oval in 28.804 seconds for his 10th career pole.
Keller is one of four drivers with four top-10 finishes in the first five races and trails Todd Bodine by 48 points in the standings. His best finish has been a third in last week's Channellock 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Last year, Keller qualified eighth but placed 13th.
Stanton Barrett qualified second with a speed of 186.916 mph, followed by Bobby Hamilton Jr. and series veteran Scott Riggs for a Ford sweep of the top four positions.
Last year, Riggs finished fourth and Hamilton eighth.
Riggs had a good run despite using a backup car after crashing into turn 3 with a few minutes left during practice runs.
"I was out there on stickers (tires) just trying to scuff my tires," Riggs said. "We had a little loose feeling getting into the corners."
Brian Vickers was fifth with the first of six Chevrolets rounding out the top 10. Bodine qualified sixth, with Joe Nemechek, Mike Bliss, David Reutimann and Randy LaJoie next.
In last year's race, Nemechek finished third and LaJoie seventh. Defending champion Jeff Purvis does not have a ride and is not entered.
