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| | Saturday, October 28 Green wins seventh pole of season | |||||
| Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Jeff Green only needs to start the Sam's Town 250 on Sunday to win his first Busch Grand National series championship. He took care of that Saturday in record-setting style. Green won the pole with his first lap during qualifying and turned his second in a record 22.45 seconds, better than his mark of 22.63 last year at Memphis Motorsports Park. Now he only has to drive his car away from the pits to the starting line to clinch his championship, but no celebrations are planned just yet. "If we get these guys celebrating, we might not have a race tomorrow," Green said. "We better wait until tomorrow night. We've got a job to do no doubt about it. We're going to celebrate. It might not be here, but we're going to celebrate." Green, who started racing on this circuit in 1990, has had the season of his life. After winning three races in 1999 and finishing second to Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the series points race, Green came into this season determined to do even better. With the help of crew chief Harold Holly and the Nestle Nesquick Chevrolet team, he has won seven poles and is looking to add to six victories. "We're tickled to death of the season we've had," Green said. "For the most part, our season's been everything we dreamed of being. When you put a season together like that, you're supposed to win championships. That's what championship-caliber teams are made of." Green edged rookie Kevin Harvick who took the second spot with a time of 22.50 on the three-quarter mile oval and an average speed of 119.734 mph in his ACDelco Chevrolet. Casey Atwood will start third after a lap of 22.578, ahead of Elton Sawyer (22.62), the only Ford in the top 10, and Todd Bodine (22.64). Rounding out the top 10 will be Richard Jarvis Jr. (22.67), rookie Jay Sauter (22.691), Bobby Hamilton Jr. (22.694), Billy Parker (22.697) and Jimmie Johnson (22.7). Parker qualified ninth despite hitting the infield grass and spinning out on his first lap. Using the same car Green won with at South Boston, Myrtle Beach and Milwaukee earlier this year, the crew made some adjustments between the afternoon practice and qualifying. Green said that helped add just enough power to win the pole with the first lap, and he went for the record on his second. "The car stuck. That Chevy today was just awesome. I never dreamed we'd outrun Kevin. That was a pretty sporty lap what he laid down. I never dreamed we'd run that fast," Green said. Harvick said an error on his part during the second lap kept him from grabbing the pole and he apologized to his crew. "The car was better than I was today in qualifying. We've got to go out and race our tails off, and hopefully we can do one spot better," Harvick said. | ALSO SEE Sam's Town 250 Lineup | |||||