| | Associated Press
Lineup
MADISON, Ill. -- Greg Biffle, the 1999 NASCAR Craftsman Truck winner at Gateway International Raceway, grabbed the pole position Saturday for Sunday's Ram Tough 200.
Biffle, driving a Ford, lapped the 1.25-mile superspeedway at an average speed of 132.279 mph to edge two-time series champion Jack Sprague and Randy Tolsma for the No. 1 starting spot.
"We're real fortunate to start from the front and maybe this will turn the season around," said Biffle, winless this season after winning nine times last year.
Biffle, also the top qualifier at the track in 1998, won the 1999 race from the fifth starting position.
Sprague qualified his Chevrolet on the outside front row with a speed of 131.922 mph. Tolsma's Dodge took the inside second row position at 131.039. Terry Cook was fourth, followed by Andy Houston, Rick Crawford, Bryan Reffner, Dennis Setzer, Rick Carelli and championship leader Mike Wallace.
Wallace, who leads Houston by 39 points, was optimistic about the team's race setup. "We'll race well," he said. "We just didn't qualify well."
Joe Ruttman, whose speed of 131.575 was good enough for third
place on the starting grid, was forced to take a provisional start
of 30th when the fuel in his Dodge failed to meet specifications in
an inspection by NASCAR officials.
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