Kurt Busch positioned to sweep

Kurt Busch won the pole Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway, putting him in perfect position for a season-sweep at his favorite race track in Bristol, Tenn.

Busch ran a qualifying lap at 124.906 mph to put his No. 2 Dodge out front for tonight’s Sharpie 500 Nextel Cup race. He beat Jeff Burton, who turned a lap at 124.808 to qualify second.

Busch has won five of the past nine races in Bristol, including the March event when he bumped former teammate Matt Kenseth out of his way to score the win. But he’s never started on the pole before – his previous best starting position was fifth in his 2003 victory when he drove for Roush Racing.

Bobby Labonte qualified third and was followed by Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and rookie Denny Hamlin.

Kevin Harvick, Kyle Petty, Elliott Sadler and rookie Reed Sorenson rounded out the top 10.

Chase for the championship contender Jeff Gordon was 13th, ahead of Mark Martin (15th), points leader Jimmie Johnson (18th) and Kyle Busch (19th).

Kasey Kahne, who is 11th and battling to crack the top 10 in the final three races before the Chase begins, will start 31st.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is clinging to the 10th spot, struggled all day and qualified 40th.

Busch Series

Matt Kenseth showed the proper way to make a pass for the lead, cleanly driving by Kevin Harvick with 15 laps to go to win the Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

It was Kenseth’s first Busch win since May 2005. It was also the first Busch victory for veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig, who was reassigned to the Busch Series earlier this season.

Harvick, who led 16 laps, finished second to increase his lead in the Busch standings to a seemingly insurmountable 519 points over Carl Edwards.

Ron Hornaday Jr. was third in a car owned by Harvick.

Champ Car

Sebastien Bourdais bounced off a concrete wall early in a 30-minute provisional qualifying session for Sunday’s Montreal Grand Prix, but still turned the fastest lap of the day in his damaged Lola to win the provisional pole.