Daytona Beach, July 04: Dale Earnhardt Jr. was as strong as usual Thursday at Daytona International Speedway, winning the pole for the Busch Series race. Earnhardt was the last of 48 cars to qualify and ran a lap at 186.308 mph to bump Kasey Kahne off the pole for Friday night's Winn-Dixie 250.

Kahne ran a lap at 186.243, and withstood challenges from Winston Cup regulars Michael Waltrip and Joe Nemechek -- two typically strong Daytona competitors. But Kahne dropped to second after Earnhardt's lap.
"I didn't necessarily expect it, but I knew (Earnhardt) would put up a good lap," Kahne said. "It's too bad he was last and we went out so early and had to wait so long, but it was close."
Earnhardt won his first Busch pole of the season and eighth overall. He is looking to complete a three-win sweep in the Busch series' restrictor-plate races after winning the season opener at Daytona and in April at Talladega.

"It's nice to get a pole," Earnhardt said. "We did all we could in February and we'll do all we can this weekend. We got the car to it, that's for sure."



Waltrip was third fastest, Bobby Hamilton Jr. fourth and Mike Bliss completed the top five. Series points leader David Green will start 22nd. Kahne, meanwhile, has qualified second three times this season and is still looking for his first pole.



"I wouldn't say it's frustrating because I knew Junior was last and he was faster than us in practice," he said. "I was a little bit nervous because I want to sit on a pole pretty bad. Now, we'll have to wait."


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