BUSCH SERIES Nashville oval good to Truex

He won his second straight Busch pole at Nashville Superspeedway.
GLADEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Martin Truex Jr. had no need to match the track record he set on the Nashville Superspeedway in April.
He was fast enough Friday with his Chevrolet, taking the pole for today's Federated Auto Parts 300 with a lap of 163.596 mph on the 1.33-mile concrete oval. It was Truex's second straight Busch Series pole on this track, and fourth of the season.
He didn't start on the pole in April because a crash in the final practice forced him to a backup car and the back of the field.
"That's behind us," Truex said. "That was a couple of months ago. We've done good things since then, won races and poles."
Truex trails Busch
Truex is 13 points behind Kyle Busch in the series points race. Busch was the 11th driver on the track, and he held the pole early trying to add to his series-leading four.
Maybe it was the hot and humid temperatures or the new, harder tire that Goodyear brought to the race, but nobody came close to matching Truex's track record of 166.516. Jason Leffler bumped Busch off the pole and held that top spot for only a few minutes.
Truex followed him onto the track two cars later. The fastest driver in practice, Truex's crew tinkered with the setup and helped him boost his speed by more than a second. He drove his Chevrolet around in just 29.338 seconds as he tries to set himself up for his fifth victory this season.
"My car's real good right now. Hopefully, it's as good as it was last time, and we'll be good to go," Truex said.
The top 10
Leffler will start second followed by Busch, Bobby Hamilton Jr. and rookie Clint Bowyer -- who led 104 of 200 laps here in April before a crash on the final lap knocked him to fourth. David Green, Jason Keller, Ron Hornaday Jr., Buckshot Jones and Casey Atwood round out the top 10.
The April race ended under caution with Michael Waltrip winning.
Waltrip will be racing tonight, but he will be at the back along with Robby Gordon and Kasey Kahne because the trio was busy qualifying for the Nextel Cup race in Pocono on Friday.
Greg Biffle qualified ninth at Pocono, then flew down to take over his Ford from Mike McLaughlin for qualifying. But he will start 18th in a full field after he overdrove his car into Turn 1 on both of his laps before returning to Pocono for a final practice there.
The outlook
This race should feature more passing and fewer crashes than in April when tires marbled on the concrete and limited drivers to one groove to avoid the slippery rubber. Goodyear brought in a harder tire used at Rockingham and Darlington.
Busch said they should be able to squeeze more room than just two grooves.
"It's a good tire, not too slick at all," he said.
Steven Christian, the ninth car out in qualifying, crashed when his Chevrolet got loose in Turn 1 with the left rear slamming in to the wall. He slid back down the track with the rear catching on fire. He was helped out of the car and treated and released at the infield care center.