Kahne on top as ``Young Guns'' lead qualifying
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) -- Qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a big day for NASCAR's ``Young Guns.''
Nobody over the age of 27 was able to break into the top five in Friday's time trials for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, and it was 23-year-old rookie Kasey Kahne who led the way.
Kahne, who missed winning the race Feb. 22 at Rockingham by inches, grabbed his first NASCAR Nextel Cup pole in a record-smashing qualifying session.
``I messed the first lap up a little bit, but I got it straightened out,'' said Kahne, who watched nervously from the top of his team's transporter until Kurt Busch, the last of 44 drivers to make qualifying runs, came up just short.
Kahne, driving a Dodge for Evernham Motorsports in only his third Cup start, turned a lap of 174.904 mph, leading 15 drivers who surpassed the previous track qualifying record of 173.016, set last year by Bobby Labonte.
The youngster was asked if winning his first pole was more exciting than nearly beating defending series champion Matt Kenseth for the win at Rockingham.
``Rockingham was a lot of fun,'' Kahne said. ``But that was two weeks ago and this is now. This is a great thing for our team.''
Sunday's race is expected to be the first real test for NASCAR's new combination of a shortened rear spoiler and softer tires -- both intended to make racing on intermediate tracks like this 1 1/2 -mile oval more exciting.
The softer tires and decreased downforce certainly made the cars faster on Friday -- and it was NASCAR's twentysomethings who took greatest advantage of the new rules.
The 25-year-old Busch, driving a Roush Racing Ford, had a lap of 174.548 -- which was 0.063 seconds slower than Kahne's. That broke up a ``Kiddie Corps'' front row, shoving 20-year-old Brian Vickers, another rookie in his third start, to the second row.
``It was a pretty good lap,'' Busch said. ``I'm proud of that effort. When we came here to test in January, this car was going to be our `B' car. But we kept polishing on it and it just kept getting better.
``To come up short like that was a bit disappointing, but we've had a great start to our season.''
Vickers, last year's Busch series champion, turned a lap of 174.537 in a Hendrick Chevrolet.
``I'm not really disappointed,'' Vickers said. ``We improved from practice and anytime you do that, you've done a good job.''
Jamie McMurray, 27, last year's top rookie, was fourth in a Dodge at 174.436, followed by the Intrepid of 2002's leading rookie, Ryan Newman, 26, who came into the day as the favorite but came up considerably short of winning his 20th career pole at 174.340.
``We were going for it, and I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get it,'' said Newman, who won a series-high 11 poles and eight races last season. ``I think we were one of the few teams that didn't come out here to test. Just to be able to come home with a top five is a lot to be said considering the new tires and rule changes.''
Busch's 18-year-old brother, Kyle, also impressed, qualifying 18th in his first Cup start. The younger Busch, a regular in the Busch series this season, turned a lap of 172.955.
Rounding out the top 10 were Jeremy Mayfield at 174.267, Bobby Labonte at 173.863, rookie Brendan Gaughan at 173.823, Greg Biffle at 173.807 and Bill Elliott, making his first Cup start of the season after cutting back to a limited schedule, at 173.768.
Kenseth, whose victory here last year was the only win of his championship season, qualified 25th at 171.679. He started 17th last March.
Series leader Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the Daytona 500 and finished fifth at Rockingham -- the only driver with two top-five finishes this season -- qualified 26th at 171.516.
Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon qualified 20th at 172.469 despite bouncing hard off the fourth-turn wall on his fast lap.
For the second straight race, there were barely enough entries to fill the 43-car field, with only Busch Series driver Larry Gunselman failing to make the lineup.
Among the drivers who did qualify were ``field fillers'' Morgan Shepherd at 164.986, Carl Long at 163.701 and Kirk Shelmerdine at 163.320.