SPARTA, Ky. -- Jay Sauter turned in a lap of 171.860 mph Saturday to win the first pole of his career for the inaugural Outback Steakhouse 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

	Jay Sauter collected the first pole of his Busch career Saturday at Kentucky.

Heavy rain forced officials to postpone Friday night's qualifying. Drivers were back on the track early Saturday in preparation for the event's 8 p.m. EDT start.

Sauter, 17th in the Busch points standings entering Saturday's 200-lap race, was the second car on the track for the qualifying session. He posted a time that gave the other 48 cars trying to earn a spot in the 43-car field a time to beat.

"Getting an early draw was a big help for me," Sauter said. "This is an important weekend _ new track, first Busch race, huge crowd, tremendous purse ... there's just lots of reasons to be excited about this race.

Jeff Green, who is second in the points standings behind Kevin Harvick, will join Sauter in the front row after a lap of 171.772 mph.

"I like to win anywhere, but to come to Kentucky -- where my home is three hours away from here -- for an inaugural event means a lot to me," Green said.

Travis Kvapil (171.679) and Tim Fedewa (171.499) will start in the second row, followed by Phil Parsons (171.287) and Jason Keller (171.271).

Harvick also plans to run in the Winston Cup Pocono 500 on Sunday. He qualified 11th after flying to Kentucky following a practice at the Long Pond, Pa., track Saturday.