LAS VEGAS - A week off hasn't cooled off Kasey Kahne.
The 23-year-old rookie, who missed winning the Feb.22 race at Rockingham by inches, grabbed his first Nextel Cup pole Friday in a record-smashing qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that featured NASCAR's "Young Guns."
"I messed the first lap up a little bit, but I got it straightened out," said Kahne, who watched nervously from the top of his team's transporter until Kurt Busch, the last of 44 drivers to make qualifying runs, came up just short.
Kahne, in an Evernham Motorsports Dodge, turned a lap of 174.904 mph in his third Cup start. He lead 15 drivers who surpassed the track qualifying record of 173.016, set last year by Bobby Labonte.
Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 is expected to be the first real test for NASCAR's new combination of a shortened rear spoiler andsofter tires - intended to make racing on intermediate tracks such as this 11/2-mile oval more exciting.
The softer tires and decreased downforce made the cars faster Friday, and it was NASCAR's 20somethings who took greatest advantage of the new rules.
The 25-year-old Busch, driving a Roush Racing Ford, had a lap of 174.548, 0.063 seconds slower than Kahne. That broke up a "Kiddie Corps" front row, shoving 20-year-old Brian Vickers, another rookie in his third start, to the second row.
Jamie McMurray, 27, last year's top rookie, was fourth in a Dodge at 174. Ryan Newman, 26, the leading rookie in 2002, failed to win his 20th career pole at 174.340.
BUSCH: Mike Bliss led a record-breaking qualifying session for today's Sam's Town 300, taking the pole at Las Vegas.
Bliss, in a Chevrolet, got his first pole in 44 Busch starts with a lap of 171.238 mph. The top 11 surpassed the track record of 169.385, set in 2001 by Matt Kenseth.
Bliss said the jump in speeds was related directly to softer tires.
"The tires will fall off after a couple of laps in the race, but they are real good for a couple of laps of qualifying," he said.
Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Kahne tied for second at 171.048, with Hamilton getting the second starting spot for Saturday's race because he came in with more points.
NHRA: David Grubnic led Top Fuel qualifying in the Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals in Chandler, Ariz., covering a quarter-mile in a career-best 4.486 seconds. Grubnic also broke the track record and reached a top speed of 324.51 mph. John Force and Greg Anderson also led their divisions in the $1.8-million event.
SUPERCROSS: Australia's Chad Reed overcame a late-race crash to win at Daytona International Speedway. The Yamaha rider, the first foreign 250cc winner in 30 years at the track, took a fall on the 16th lap. He held on for an 8.742-second victory. Kawasaki's James "Bubba" Stewart won the 125cc title.
OBITUARY Louie Unser, who served as chief mechanic for brothers Jerry and Al during their debuts at the Indianapolis 500, is dead at 71. Unser, who had multiple sclerosis, died Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif., according to a release from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which provided no further details.
