Kyle Busch takes pole at Pocono; Bowyer second

Associated Press

LONG POND, Pa.

Kyle Busch will start his 200th career Sprint Cup race at the front of the field.

Winner of two of the last four races, Busch turned a lap at 169.485 mph Friday to win the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR race at Pocono Raceway and extend a midseason hot streak that has lifted him to second in the points standings.

Now the driver that fans love to hate hopes to parlay his first pole at the 2.5 mile-long Tricky Triangle into a respectable finish. His best finish at Pocono was fourth in 2005, and he hasn’t finished higher than 16th over the last two years.

“It would mean a lot,” Busch said when asked about getting a win in his milestone start. “This is a place I’ve struggled at ... You can come around here and it can be really, really frustrating at this place because it is so long, you can beat your head against the headrest.”

Clint Bowyer was qualified second, while Dale Earnhardt, Jr., was third.

Jeff Burton qualified 13th. Busch and Burton had a run-in at Charlotte last week after Busch’s late error sent Burton tumbling to a 25th-place finish.

But they apparently patched things up before coming to Long Pond, and both guys say they’ll just be concentrating on racing Sunday.

Bowyer posted his seventh top 10 start of the season.