Busch Brothers Break Track Record

For the first time in their careers, the Busch brothers have qualified together on the front row for the Shelby 427 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at their home track in Las Vegas, NV.  It was Kyle who ended up with the pole, smashing the track record with a lap of 185.995 mph.  Kyle knocked his brother Kurt off the pole by just 45-thousandths of a second.  The top 7 cars qualified within a tenth of a second of the pole time.

Twelve drivers broke the track record set by Kasey Kahne in 2007.  Cool weather conditions and a Goodyear tire with more grip were largely credited for the increased speeds.  Mark Martin was the first driver to take time and was the first to break the track record.

Qualifying third-fastest was Jimmie Johnson, followed by David Reutimann, Marcos Ambrose, Ryan Newman, Kahne, Martin, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart.

Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered setbacks in qualifying after hitting the bumps in turn one and washing up the track on their first laps.  They'll start 28th and 31st, respectively.

Matt Kenseth is looking to make history Sunday by becoming the first driver to win three straight races at the start of the season.  Starting 40th, he'll have his work cut out for him, but Kenseth has two career victories at Las Vegas.

Kyle Busch's record-setting pole run is a bit moot; the team had to replace an engine before qualifying and therefore, like Brian Vickers last week, Busch will have to start the race last.