Busch Earns ARCA Pole at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. (Sept. 26, 2003) – Three for six isn’t bad, especially when you’re talking about pole awards. Kyle Busch, piloting the No. 87 ditech.com Chevrolet, earned his third career ARCA Series pole, in just his sixth-ever ARCA start, during Thursday’s qualifying session at Talladega Superspeedway. His lap of 184.455 mph around the 2.66-mile oval was good enough to beat Bobby Gerhart who qualified second with a speed of 184.356 mph. “It was a good lap for us,” Busch said. “It wasn’t as fast of a lap as when we tested here, but we’ll take it. It’s easy for a driver to get around Talladega during qualifying because there’s not too much going on. “The guys on this team are the ones who found the speed we needed -- I had the easy job.” In five ARCA races and four NASCAR Busch Series races this season, Busch has shown a knack for starting up front. Prior to qualifying at Talladega, the Las Vegas native already has been the top qualifier for two ARCA Series events this season. Busch won from the inside of Row 1 in his first-ever start with Hendrick Motorsports at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway on April 11 -- setting a track record -- and qualified first at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in July, also setting a track record. The 18-year-old has qualified in the top 10 in each event that time trials have been held since joining Hendrick Motorsports in February. Due to inclement weather, the fields were set by points at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May (ARCA) and at Dover (Del.) International Speedway (Busch Series) earlier this month, marking the only times Busch has started worse than eighth this year.” Saturday’s 300-mile event is scheduled for a 2 p.m. ET start and will be broadcast on SPEED Channel (tape delayed) at 1 a.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 28.