Mike Bliss, sitting on a 32-point championship lead entering the season's final race, won the Bud Pole for Friday's Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Bliss, driving the No. 16 IWX Motor Freight/Knights Inn Chevrolet, circled the 1.5-mile paved oval at an average speed of 147.111 mph. The pole was Bliss's fourth of the season and 18th of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career -- breaking a tie with Joe Ruttman. Bliss twice has won from the pole in 2002, at Pikes Peak and Nashville Superspeedway. Both championship rivals qualified among the top four on Thursday. Third-place Ted Musgrave, trailing by 71 points, took the No. 2 spot in his No. 1 Mopar Performance Dodge at 146.991 while points runnerup Rick Crawford will start his No. 14 Circle Bar Motel and RV Ford fourth at 145.447. Musgrave teammate Jason Leffler qualified third at 146.171 while Ron Hornaday Jr., running a second Xpress Motorsports Chevrolet to partner Bliss, was fifth at 145.368. Travis Kvapil, Terry Cook, Ryan Hemphill, Bill Lester and Matt Crafton qualified sixth through 10th. Robert Pressley, initially shown as the No. 4 qualifier, took a provisional and will start 33rd in the 36-truck lineup. NASCAR officials, during a post-qualifying inspection, determined that his truck had an unapproved right front spring and disallowed his speed of 145.918. Starting line follows:
1. (16) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 147.111 mph.
2. ( 1) Ted Musgrave, Dodge, 146.991 mph.
3. ( 2) Jason Leffler, Dodge, 146.171 mph.
4. (14) Rick Crawford, Ford, 145.447 mph.
5. (11) Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet, 145.368 mph.
6. (60) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 144.726 mph.
7. (29) Terry Cook, Ford, 144.636 mph.
8. ( 4) Ryan Hemphill, Dodge, 144.571 mph.
9. ( 8) Bill Lester #, Dodge, 144.208 mph.
10. (88) Matt Crafton, Chevrolet, 144.169 mph.
11. (20) Coy Gibbs, Chevrolet, 144.150 mph.
12. (75) David Starr, Chevrolet, 143.958 mph.
13. (62) Brendan Gaughan #, Dodge, 143.850 mph.
14. (17) Stacy Compton, Dodge, 143.843 mph.
15. (46) Dennis Setzer, Chevrolet, 143.544 mph.
16. (21) Morgan Shepherd, Ford, 143.270 mph.
17. (52) Ken Schrader, Chevrolet, 143.153 mph.
18. (86) Lance Hooper, Chevrolet, 143.008 mph.
19. (50) Jon Wood, Ford, 142.990 mph.
20. (07) Jason Small #, Chevrolet, 142.657 mph.
21. (08) Bobby Dotter, Chevrolet, 142.191 mph.
22. (90) Lance Norick, Chevrolet, 142.072 mph.
23. (03) Barry Bodine, Chevrolet, 142.060 mph.
24. ( 7) Bryan Reffner, Chevrolet, 142.038 mph.
25. (15) Andy Houston, Ford, 141.822 mph.
26. (93) Randy MacDonald, Chevrolet, 141.788 mph.
27. (34) Eric Jones, Chevrolet, 141.022 mph.
28. (54) Brian Sockwell, Chevrolet, 140.904 mph.
29. (89) Stan Boyd, Chevrolet, 140.827 mph.
30. (43) Carlos Contreras, Dodge, 140.709 mph.
31. (51) Brian Rose, Dodge, 140.702 mph.
32. (79) Jerry Hill, Dodge, 140.365 mph.
33. (18) Robert Pressley, Dodge, Provisional.
34. (39) Steve Portenga, Chevrolet, Provisional.
35. (72) Teri MacDonald, Chevrolet, Provisional.
36. ( 5) Mike Cofer, Dodge, Provisional.
7 drivers failed to qualify.
37. (36) Robby Benton, Ford, 140.118 mph.
38. (45) Adam Clarke, Dodge, 139.784 mph.
39. (98) Cory Kruseman, Chevrolet, 139.506 mph.
40. (25) Phil Bonifield, Chevrolet, 138.971 mph.
41. ( 0) Loni Richardson #, Chevrolet, 138.839 mph.
42. (09) John Mickel, Chevrolet, 138.664 mph.
43. (23) Dana White, Chevrolet, 134.889 mph.
