Kahne takes Vegas Cup pole

The Evernham driver set a fastest time of 29.212 seconds in his only qualifying lap with an average speed of 184.856 mph, eclipsing Ganassi driver David Stremme, who was on provisional pole for most of the second half of the session.

"I just made a pretty good lap. There are some bumps in turns one and two which I was able to get around and cut back the track after I got around them. It worked out good," Kahne said.

"I'm happy and it's exciting not to give the track record up here yet. We've had it since '04, so I'll try to keep that for a while."

The battle for pole position seemed to be a contest amongst the Dodge drivers from Evernham Motorsports and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, the two teams grabbing five of the top six places on the grid.

Stremme, who is currently Ganassi's top driver in the standings, just edged Evernham's Elliot Sadler by half a tenth of a second, while Juan Pablo Montoya equalled his best qualifying position so far, taking fourth.

The Colombian went on track after teammate Stremme and sat on the front-row provisionally until Sadler and Kahne qualified. He was the best placed rookie once more and unlike Daytona where he had to contest the Gatorade Duels before earning his place on the grid for the main race, this time he will have the chance to start from the second row.

"It was good. [Turns] one and two were really good. In one and two I went pretty deep and it was good, three and four when I went in deep it was good," Montoya said.

"I got out of the gas a little bit to help it turn and when it got a little tight the rear just came around when I went back on the gas. I don't know. It's all about learning and yeah, fourth is great."

Behind the four Dodge Chargers Jeff Burton , who is currently second in the points, emerged as the fastest Chevrolet in fifth with a speed of 182.976 mph.

Reed Sorenson completed a great run for Chip Ganassi by qualifying sixth with a lap of 182.822 mph, three tenths of a second away from pole.

Dave Blaney was again the fastest Toyota qualifier in 11th, running early in the order and sitting on provisional pole after his lap. The only other Toyota Camry in the field for Sunday will be Dale Jarrett, although he had to use his past champion rule benefit to take the last spot on the grid. He was 47th in the session.

Jeremy Mayfield had engine problems, while Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann simply struggled for speed. Red Bull rookie A.J. Allmendinger was on the verge of making his first Nextel Cup start until he was bumped in the last minute by Kenny Wallace. None of the Team Red Bull cars qualified as Brian Vickers was 44th.

Points leader Mark Martin qualified 14th despite being among the top three in practice, while last year's race winner Jimmie Johnson struggled for grip and finished the session down in 23rd.

Aric Almirola, who was also trying to make the field for the first time, was able to qualify his Joe Gibbs entry on speed and will make his Nextel Cup debut from 31st on the grid.

Four drivers had incidents during the session, starting with Bobby Labonte who crashed going out of Turn 2. After him, David Gilliland and Ken Schrader also hit the wall at Turn 4, while Paul Menard was able to avoid a big shunt after spinning at the same point.

Starting order:

Pos  Driver              Make       Speed
 1.  Kasey Kahne         Dodge      184.855
 2.  David Stremme       Dodge      184.193
 3.  Elliott Sadler      Dodge      183.874
 4.  Juan Montoya        Dodge      183.188
 5.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet  182.976
 6.  Scott Riggs         Dodge      182.865
 7.  Reed Sorenson       Dodge      182.822
 8.  Sterling Marlin     Chevrolet  182.525
 9.  Joe Nemechek        Chevrolet  182.266
10.  Kurt Busch          Dodge      182.020
11.  Dave Blaney         Toyota     181.775
12.  Kyle Busch          Chevrolet  181.763
13.  Carl Edwards        Ford       181.568
14.  Mark Martin         Chevrolet  181.494
15.  Kenny Wallace       Chevrolet  181.378
16.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet  181.293
17.  Denny Hamlin        Chevrolet  181.074
18.  Greg Biffle         Ford       181.032
19.  Paul Menard         Chevrolet  180.953
20.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet  180.904
21.  David Gilliland     Ford       180.892
22.  Kyle Petty          Dodge      180.886
23.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet  180.820
24.  J.J. Yeley          Chevrolet  180.802
25.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet  180.596
26.  Martin Truex Jr.    Chevrolet  180.542
27.  Tony Raines         Chevrolet  180.487
28.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Chevrolet  180.409
29.  Jeff Green          Chevrolet  180.307
30.  Ward Burton         Chevrolet  180.258
31.  Aric Almirola       Chevrolet  180.174
32.  Johnny Sauter       Chevrolet  180.156
33.  Jamie McMurray      Ford       180.090
34.  Casey Mears         Chevrolet  180.060
35.  David Ragan         Ford       179.826
36.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet  179.635
37.  Matt Kenseth        Ford       179.462
38.  Robby Gordon        Ford       179.342
39.  Ryan Newman         Dodge      179.217
40.  Ricky Rudd          Ford       179.051
41.  Jon Wood            Ford       175.873
42.  Bobby Labonte       Dodge      -
43.  Dale Jarrett        Toyota     Champ's pro

DID NOT QUALIFY:

A.J. Allmendinger   Toyota     179.964
Mike Bliss          Dodge      179.778
John Andretti       Dodge      179.223
Brian Vickers       Toyota     179.003
David Reutimann     Toyota     178.571
Jeremy Mayfield     Toyota     177.258
Brandon Whitt       Chevrolet  176.523
Kevin Lepage        Dodge      175.393
Michael Waltrip     Toyota     173.421
Ken Schrader        Ford
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