Kyle Busch to start on pole for Kentucky Cup race

[July 09, 2011]  SPARTA, Ky. (AP) -- Kyle Busch will be on the pole for the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway, grabbing the top spot after rain washed out qualifying and the starting order was based on practice times.

Juan Pablo Montoya will start second in Saturday night's 400-mile race and Kurt Busch will be third.

Nearly half of the 48 cars attempting to make the 43-car field got in a qualifying run before a thunderstorm resulted in qualifying to be based on the best laps during Friday's practice session.

The storm kept Kentucky native Michael Waltrip from making the field. He was fourth fastest of the 22 cars that went through qualifying, but those numbers were wiped out and he will miss the race because his top practice speed wasn't among the 43 fastest.

[Associated Press]

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