Sprague

Sprague, twice a winner at the 1.5-mile superspeedway, set a track record of 161.803 mph in putting his Hendrick Motorsports-owned Chevrolet Silverado into the No. 1 starting position.

The pole was Sprague's seventh of the season and 20th of his truck series career. His speed erased Stacy Compton's 2-year-old record of 161.796.

More important, however, it magnified Sprague's 64-point advantage in the point standings with Sunday's race and two others remaining in the season. Sprague's closest rival, Joe Ruttman, qualified 13th while third-place Scott Riggs wound up third.

"I'm just going to try to do the best I can while keeping those two in sight," said Sprague, who never has finished worse than second in four previous appearances at the track.

"I don't think where you start here really matters. Your truck just has to handle all day and run good. But it doesn't hurt, starting on the pole."

Joining Sprague on the front row will be Rick Crawford, coming off a second-place finish in last weekend's series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Crawford, who drives a Ford F-150, recorded a speed of 161.180.

Hometown driver Kurt Busch, a 16-year-old high school junior who drives for Roush Racing, qualified his Ford third at 160.815. Riggs, a five-time winner in a Dodge Ram, filled out the second row at 160.561.

David Starr, the fourth-place finisher in Texas, qualified his Chevrolet fifth at 160.561.

Jim Inglebright, Ricky Hendrick, Dennis Setzer, Jon Wood and Ted Musgrave completed the top 10 qualifiers.