Las Vegas’ Busch qualifies 10th at Dover

Friday, Sept. 22, 2000 | 1:48 a.m.

DOVER, Del. -- Kurt Busch's new driver's suit showed up only minutes before today's first-round qualifying for Sunday's NASCAR Winston Cup MBNA.com 400 at Dover Downs International Speedway, but the 22-year-old Las Vegas native wasted no time getting comfortable in his new threads.

Busch was the fastest rookie qualifier Friday, clicking off a lap at 157.936 mph in the No. 97 Roush Racing Ford Taurus and will start 10th in his Winston Cup debut.

"It wasn't too bad of a lap," Busch said. "We made some changes in practice that really picked up the speed of the car. It was an exciting lap but yet it wasn't up on the edge -- it was just what we needed to do: top 25.

"It's just something that you've got to get underneath your belt. We got that first once down and now we can concentrate and get in the groove of things."

Jeremy Mayfield captured the pole for Sunday's race with a lap of 159.872 mph and Rick Mast will start of the outside of the front row after a qualifying lap of 158.926.

Busch, who will replace veteran driver Chad Little in the John Deere-sponsored Ford for seven of the final eight races of the season and will drive the car full-time next year, credited his Roush Racing crew with putting a good car underneath him.

"It's just Jack Roush's equipment and it's the opportunity he gave me to jump in there and go," Busch said. "It's really the great people he's got around here (and) the truck program is top notch. The John Deere crew really helped me out getting me situated and acclimated to the car.

"We've got a little bit of work to do with the 97 car and we're searching for a sponsor for next year, so we've got some work ahead of us."

Busch also drives the No. 99 Exide Batteries Ford truck for team owner Jack Roush in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Busch qualified on the pole for tonight's MBNA e-commerce 200 truck race, but will start at the back of the field after crashing his truck in Thursday's final practice session.

Busch's qualifying effort Friday was the best this season for the No. 97 car. In 26 starts, Little's average starting position was 31st, with a best start of 13th in March in Atlanta. Little's best finish in a points race was sixth (his only top 10) in the same race.

Busch on Sunday will become the first native Las Vegan to drive in stock-car racing's premier series. The Durango High School graduate has two wins, two poles and is third in the points standings in the truck series going into tonight's race on the Monster Mile.

Busch said it has been difficult moving back and forth between the truck and the Winston Cup car this weekend because of the way they handle on the 1-mile concrete oval.

"It's quite a bit different at a track like this where speeds are relatively high for the trucks and for Winston Cup," Busch said. "The trucks, with the drag that they have down the straightaways, they just don't get down the straightaways as quick and they're always looser in the corner.

"They're a little bit harder to drive where the Cup cars are stuck with the aerodynamics that they have. It's probably less of a transition from a Busch car to a Cup car, but it's tough for me because I haven't been able to jump back and forth between cars for a few years now."

Busch outqualified such Winston Cup regulars as series points leader Bobby Labonte (17th), Jeff Burton (21st), Terry Labonte (25th) and Dale Earnhardt (39th) for Sunday's race.