Denny Hamlin takes NASCAR Busch Series pole

            Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) survived the heat of the California Speedway track and an uncertain setup on his Dodge to clinch the Bud Pole for Sunday's NASCAR NEXTEL CUP Sharp Aquos 500 during Laughlin Qualifying Day at California Speedway.

            Busch's first Bud Pole of 2007, earned with a lap of 39.474 seconds (182.399 mph), was also his third Pole in 11 races at California Speedway. He has six top-10 starts on the two-mile, D-shaped oval and he has finished fourth or better in all six, including a victory in 2003.

            Joining Busch on the front row is Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet), while defending race winner Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge) qualified third.

"I didn't think we had a shot at the pole. I was just looking for a nice consistent run," said Busch, who holds the 12^th and final spot in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup and is coming off a win two weeks ago at Michigan. "After we got done with practice, the numbers that we thought we had didn't show up on the scales, so we just changed it here, changed it there, just threw a setup at it that we thought would be close to where we wanted to be, and lo and behold, we got a pole."

So did Denny Hamlin (No. 20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet) in Saturday's Busch Series Camping World 300 Presented by RVs.com. The leader in NASCAR NEXTEL CUP top-10 starts in 2007 with 17, Hamlin navigated California Speedway in 39.930 seconds (180.316 mph) to earn his fifth Busch Series pole of the season.