Kyle Busch beats Kahne for 600 pole

Kyle Busch on pole

Rhonda McCole

Kyle Busch rocketed to his third pole position in two weeks on Thursday night, grabbing the lead-off spot for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Busch’s lap of 185.433 mph was enough to knock Kasey Kahne off the top spot, earning Busch his fourth career pole and his second of the season.

Kahne held onto the second starting spot, followed by Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle and David Ragan.

Busch’s pole-winning run came as a surprise for the current series points leader, as Busch was unhappy with the car during the earlier practice session.

“We struggled a bit here earlier today and felt like we made some gains there," said Busch. “I like the car better, but it still wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be.

“We made some changes, (crew chief Steve) Addington and the guys made good calls for qualifying here."

Busch won the pole for last weekend’s Sprint All Star as well as the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event, however his finishes didn’t match his qualifying efforts.

He’s hoping for better luck on Sunday

“I don’t think I’ve ever finished 600 miles on the lead lap," said Busch. “I might have only finished this race one time and I was three laps down. That was my first try here and hopefully we’ll have better luck this time."

Kahne, the winner of last Saturday’s Sprint All Star race, will start on the outside row for the third time here, looking for his second Coca-Cola 600 victory.

“That was a good lap, but it wasn’t good enough to stand up to the pole," said Kahne. “We made some adjustments that went in the right direction for us. I was a little free coming off of Turn 3, but other than that, it was a good clean lap that will allow us to start up front and gain a great pit stall."

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Elliott Sadler and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top ten qualifiers.

Five drivers failed to qualify for the event, including Jeff Green, Stanton Barrett, Jon Wood, Joe Nemechek and Tony Raines.

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