Busch Series leader Truex wins pole for Sam's town 250 race

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- NASCAR Busch series points leader Martin Truex Jr. won his seventh pole of the season in qualifying Friday at Memphis Motorsports Park.
Truex, 144 points ahead of Kyle Busch, sped around the three-quarter-mile oval in a Chevrolet at 120.198 mph.
But that lap -- just off Jeff Green's four-year-old qualifying record of 120.267 -- was achieved only after some hard work.
Truex, a five-time winner on the circuit this season, had the second-fastest lap in practice behind Ron Hornaday. But adjustments before qualifying gave Truex the top spot for Saturday's Sam's Town 250.
"We didn't have the best car when we started, and we worked real hard and figured out a way to make our car faster than everybody else's," Truex said.
Truex, who has won only once from the pole, qualified 10 spots ahead of Busch. But Truex doesn't figure Busch will make it easy for him.
"For some reason, we just can't get away from each other," Truex said. "We can start 30th and first, and at the end of the race, we'll be fifth and sixth."
Next
Former NASCAR champion Bill Elliott, running in his first Busch race in more than 10 years, qualified second in a Dodge. Elliott, racing only occasionally on the Nextel Cup circuit, went 119.601.
Elliott's car, the only non-Chevrolet in the top 11 spots, has a picture of Elvis Presley on the hood and musical notes down the sides as the title car for the race billed as "He Dared To Rock."
He said his team needs to make some adjustments before today's race and become more familiar with the track.
"I asked if they had been here, and they said no," Elliott explained. "They asked me, and I said no. We just need to run and figure out where to go from there."