BUSCH SERIES Szegedy escapes orange in tests

He missed an inflatable orange that was rolling toward him on the track.
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) -- Todd Szegedy is seeing orange after his first try at Busch Series qualifying.
Literally.
Szegedy was coming out of turn four on his first lap of qualifying for the Tropicana Twister 300 on Friday when he saw a "big orange thing."
An inflatable orange, 30 feet in diameter and weighing 60 pounds, had snapped off its tethers in high winds and was rolling slowly toward him on the track at Chicagoland Speedway.
"I used to like orange juice. Now it almost killed me," Szegedy joked afterward. "I don't even live in Florida."
Szegedy squeezed by the orange without incident and then pulled off the track. His attempt was wiped out, and he finished 12th when qualifying resumed after an almost 2-hour rain delay.
Hamilton cops pole
Defending champion Bobby Hamilton Jr. ran away with the pole just as he did for last year's race at the 1 1/2-mile D-shaped oval. Hamilton set a Busch track record with a lap at 183.611 mph, more than a mile faster than Kyle Busch.
It was Hamilton's first pole of the year and the fourth of his career.
"This morning, the car was extremely fast. Extremely fast," said Hamilton, son of former Winston Cup star and current NASCAR Craftsman Trucks competitor Bobby Hamilton. "Didn't matter who was in front of us, we were going to pass them and take off."
That's how Hamilton ran in last year's race, too, when he won by 4.50 seconds -- about 20 car-lengths. He led by almost 16 seconds -- about a half-lap -- at one point before a caution flag allowed the rest of the pack to catch him.
"There were still five cars on the lead lap. If we get our way this year, there won't be any," Hamilton said. "We're here to take everything we can."
Busch is second
Busch was second in qualifying at 182.125 mph. Veteran Joe Nemechek qualified third at 182.088 mph and Matt Kenseth was fourth at 182.088 mph.
"We weren't able to capitalize on [Hamilton's] car," Busch said. "I don't think anybody else will be able to, either, this weekend. It'll probably be a runaway show like it was last year."
Better that than a runaway orange like Szegedy encountered.
Tropicana, which also sponsors Sunday's 400-mile NASCAR race, had inflatable oranges and two inflatable bottles decorating the track, each secured to the ground with eight nylon tethers. Both of the oranges broke free when a storm approached the track about an hour into Busch qualifying Friday.
Landed on motor coach
One of the oranges landed on top of a motor coach. The other landed on pit road at the start of the front stretch, prompting cheers and laughs from fans -- and a yellow caution for drivers.
"I was just wondering why my crew chief was saying there was going to be a yellow coming out," Szegedy said. "I didn't see a yellow. Then I saw a big orange thing rolling right at me."
Szegedy passed the orange without hitting it, but the draft from his car pulled the orange off pit road and onto the track. It bobbed slowly down the track, crossed the finish line and made it all the way to the first turn before a truck pinned it against the fence and deflated it.
Tropicana took the other two inflatables down, not wanting to risk interfering with competition.
"That didn't seem like it was normal to see that orange on the track," Szegedy said. "It gives new meaning to debris on the track."