Truex wins pole at Atlanta

Martin Truex Jr. won his first pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, just in time for the track’s first scheduled race entirely under the lights.

Truex qualified first for tonight’s Pep Boys Auto 500 with his lap of 184.149 mph. It is Truex’s second pole of the season after qualifying first and finishing 11th at the Daytona 500.

Truex is leaving Earnhardt Ganassi Racing after the season to join Michael Waltrip Racing and said he wants to give his current team a win.

“I want to go out on a high note for them and for all they’ve done for me,” Truex said.

Truex, 23rd in the Sprint Cup standings, is an outsider in the late-season competition for one of the 12 spots in the Chase for the Championship.

“I think the urgency is just that the year is coming to an end,” Truex said.

Kasey Kahne qualified second at 183.497 mph. Jimmie Johnson, was third, followed by Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch.

Nationwide Series

Kevin Harvick led most of the race and then passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. with two laps left to regain the lead and win the Degree V12 300 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Harvick and Kyle Busch each went into the pits for gas and four tires with 14 laps remaining while Earnhardt and Brad Keselowski stayed on the track, gambling they had enough gas to finish the race.

Earnhardt and Keselowski had enough gas, but were still passed by Harvick and Busch, who finished second.

Harvick led 131 of the 195 laps.

Harvick claimed his second Nationwide Series win of the season in a car fielded by the race team he built with wife Delana. He also won in Bristol, Tenn., in March.

NASCAR Trucks

Mike Skinner pulled away after a late restart to win the first Camping World race at the Iowa Speedway.

Skinner, a two-time winner this year, was running away from the field when the yellow flag came out because of debris with seven laps to go. They restarted with four laps remaining and Skinner pulled away in his Toyota to win by 1.370 seconds.

Aric Almirola was second in a Toyota and Colin Braun finished third in a Ford. Series leader Ron Hornaday Jr. was fourth after starting 15th.

Skinner, who started on the pole, led for all but 20 of the 200 laps in winning for the 27th time in the series.