Hometown hero Kurt Busch wins Vegas pole with new track record

Kurt Busch celebrates after qualifying for the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 4, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Kurt Busch celebrates after qualifying for the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 4, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Kurt Busch celebrates after qualifying for the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 4, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

For the second week in a row, Kurt Busch will lead the field to the green for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Unlike last week however, there was no controversy has Kurt set a new track record at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday night.

Last week at Atlanta, Kurt inherited the pole after running second to his younger brother Kyle who later had his time disallowed after failing post qualifying inspection. Friday night the elder Busch, a Las Vegas native ran a lap of t 27.49, 196.38 mph in the first of three rounds of qualifying. He then backed that up in the final round with a lap of 27.505, 196.328 mph in the final minute to secure the 21st pole of his career and the second at his hometown track.

“It was insanely fast,” Busch said.

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Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.