Mike Bliss broke a near three year drought on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in winning the Bud Pole for Sunday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Dodge Ram Tough 200 at Gateway International Raceway. Bliss, driver of the No. 16 IWX Motor Freight/Knights Inn Chevrolet, lapped the 1.25-mile superspeedway on Saturday at an average speed of 129.549 mph. The pole was Bliss's 15th in series competition, but first since May 16, 1999, to tie Mike Skinner for No. 3 on the all-time qualifying list. His last Bud Pole came at Pikes Peak International Speedway. Bliss was the eighth driver to hold the provisional pole. He knocked off Dennis Setzer's No. 46 ACXIOM/Computer Associates Chevrolet which qualified at 129.470 mph. Ted Musgrave, Rick Crawford and Jason Leffler took the next three spots for the 160-lap, 200-mile race set for a 4 p.m. EDT start on ESPN and MRN Radio. Starting lineup follows:
1.(16)Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 129.549
2.(46)Dennis Setzer, Chevrolet, 129.470
3.(1)Ted Musgrave, Dodge, 129.403
4.(14)Rick Crawford, Ford, 129.043
5.(2)Jason Leffler, Dodge, 128.910
6.(60)Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 128.623
7.(18)Robert Pressley, Dodge, 128.516
8.(29)Terry Cook, Ford, 128.480
9.(50)Jon Wood, Ford, 128.063
10.(5)Lance Hooper, Dodge, 127.983
11.(43)Carlos Contreras, Dodge, 127.580
12.(8)Bill Lester, Dodge, 127.446
13.(75)David Starr, Chevrolet, 127.349
14.(52)Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 127.288
15.(90)Lance Norick, Chevrolet, 127.144
16.(07)Jason Small, Chevrolet, 126.586
17.(39)Steve Portenga, Chevrolet, 126.476
18.(88)Matt Crafton, Chevrolet, 126.458
19.(62)Brendan Gaughan, Dodge, 126.330
20.(72)Randy MacDonald, Chevrolet, 125.945
21.(20)Coy Gibbs, Chevrolet, 125.857
22.(08)Bobby Dotter, Chevrolet, 125.807
23.(21)Morgan Shepherd, Ford, 125.345
24.(68)Rodney Sawyers, Dodge, 125.271
25.(51)Michael Dokken, Dodge, 125.118
26.(15)Trent Owens, Ford, 125.010
27.(4)Brian Rose, Dodge, 125.003
28.(89)Stan Boyd, Chevrolet, 124.903
29.(79)Jerry Hill, Dodge, 124.533
30.(81)Angie Wilson, Chevrolet, 124.285
31.(59)Joe Cooksey, Chevrolet, 124.083
32.(63)Larry Gunselman, Ford, 123.447
33.(73)Loni Richardson, Chevrolet, provisional
34.(55)Tom Powers, Dodge, provisional
35.(86)Dana White, Chevrolet, provisional
36.(93)Mike Leffingwell, Chevrolet, provisional
37.(41)R.D. Smith, Dodge, 122.833
38.(11)Aaron Daniel, Ford, 122.713
39.(23)Phil Bonifield, Chevrolet, 116.780
40.(49)Scott Kuhn, Dodge, No speed
