Jason Leffler became the first competitor to win a Bud Pole in both the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Busch Series as he drove his Team ASE Racing/Carquest Dodge to a fast qualifying lap of 180.517 mph as the field was set for Friday's O'Reilly 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. The Bud Pole was the third of 2002 for the Ultra Motorsports competitor who also had fast qualifying times at Darlington Raceway and Pikes Peak International Raceway. He also posted fast time for the NASCAR Busch Series field in March 2000. Leffler, however, is still looking for his first victory of the season - after second-place finishes at Pikes Peak and Gateway International Raceway. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series point leader David Starr matched his best qualifying performance with the second fast lap on a hot afternoon. Starr qualified his Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet at 179.503. Qualifying on row two were Robert Pressley's Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge at 179.116 and Ted Musgrave's Mopar Performance Ram at 178.796. Coy Gibbs' MBNA Chevrolet was fifth at 178.053.
All 35 trucks in the garage qualified for the 167-lap, 250.5-mile, 400 kilometer event scheduled to be aired live by ESPN at 9 p.m. EDT.
The lineup:
1.(2)Jason Leffler, Dodge, 180.355
2.(75)David Starr, Chevrolet, 179.503
3.(18)Robert Pressley, Dodge, 179.116
4.(1)Ted Musgrave, Dodge, 178.796
5.(20)Coy Gibbs, Chevrolet, 178.053
6.(60)Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 177.591
7.(8)Bill Lester, Dodge, 177.480
8.(88)Matt Crafton, Chevrolet, 177.433
9.(14)Rick Crawford, Ford, 177.223
10.(62)Brendan Gaughan, Dodge, 177.061
11.(90)Lance Norick, Chevrolet, 176.916
12.(50)Jon Wood, Ford, 176.678
13.(46)Dennis Setzer, Chevrolet, 176.419
14.(4)Brian Rose, Dodge, 175.804
15.(5)Lance Hooper, Dodge, 175.302
16.(16)Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 175.029
17.(51)Michael Ritch, Dodge, 174.972
18.(29)Terry Cook, Ford, 174.689
19.(08)Bobby Dotter, Chevrolet, 174.616
20.(21)Morgan Shepherd, Ford, 174.548
21.(07)Jason Small, Chevrolet, 174.048
22.(43)Carlos Contreras, Dodge, 173.383
23.(72)Randy MacDonald, Chevrolet, 172.955
24.(89)Stan Boyd, Chevrolet, 172.618
25.(15)Trent Owens, Ford, 172.073
26.(79)Jerry Hill, Dodge, 170.207
27.(93)Randy Briggs, Chevrolet, 170.095
28.(39)Steve Portenga, Chevrolet, 169.886
29.(81)Donnie Neuenberger, Dodge, 168.503
30.(86)Phil Bonifield, Chevrolet, 168.193
31.(11)Aaron Daniel, Ford, 167.074
32.(73)David Hall, Chevrolet, 166.919
33.(55)Tom Powers, Dodge, provisional
34.(0)Jason White, Chevrolet, provisional
35.(38)Wayne Edwards, Chevrolet, 154.356
