Riggs earns his second pole at Charlotte

Scott Riggs lapped Lowe's Motor Speedway at the speed of 191.469 mph to earn the pole for the Bank of America 500. It is Riggs' second pole of the season and third of his career. His last pole came at this track in the spring for the Coca-Cola 600; he also started first for this year's Nextel Open race also held at LMS.

"I knew the cooler it was going to be the better it was going to be," said Riggs. "We have been struggling the last couple of weeks, had tires blow and crash, coming here we wanted to go back to the way we were going -- uphill. My teammates are running good and coming here we knew we had a car capable of something and we really wanted to do good."

Riggs' No. 10 Evernham Dodge was the only car to break the 191-mph mark; Kasey Kahne with a lap of 190.194 mph grabbed second. Kahne had the pole until his teammate Riggs went out with a handful of cars left to outpace him.

"It's exciting to qualify," said Kahne. "I want to get poles. I want to get everything we can. With the team I have I think we can get more this year. I feel like we have a shot at winning races and running up front and doing everything we can to challenge for the Nextel Cup. We're going to do everything possible. We had a couple of bad breaks and fell behind a little bit."

Kurt Busch will start third with a lap of 189.713 mph, "I think I left a little bit out there. We were a little loose, but I didn't know we could go that fast. I think it's still a blessing we have a small fuel cell because the car goes through a major swing. When you have such a hard tire you've got to loosen it up so it'll last and not get too tight at the end of the run. If we had the 22-gallon fuel cell a lot of guys would have to start way, way loose.

"I knew Kahne would run a good lap. He's fast in his Dodge Charger. Our lap was pretty good. We're trying to get the feel for Charlotte since they gave a harder tire to us. The track has come a long way in a short time, and it feels good to go out there with 600 miles under your belt. We know what to expect for this race. Cooler temperatures, Saturday night action, everybody likes racing under the lights. We'll see what we have for 'em."

Casey Mears and Elliott Sadler complete the top qualifiers with Dodge sweeping the top five starting spots.

"Goodyear has changed the tire a little bit," Sadler commented. "We've got more grip coming back this time. Everybody is not as out of control as we were the first race here. Goodyear has done a good job with that. We'll be able to tell a lot more tomorrow night after the Busch race, as far as tire wear goes.

"I think the small fuel cells are a good thing. We should be fine for tear wear and things like that. I think you're going to see a good race because everybody is going to be on fresh tires because of the smaller fuel cells. Five hundred miles, the middle of The Chase, The Chase is putting on a good show for everybody. It should be a good weekend."

Fifty-two drivers attempted to qualify for the forty-three car field; failing to make the show Morgan Shepard, Hermie Sadler, Kirk Shelmerdine, Carl Long, Kenny Wallace, Chad Chaffin, Kevin Lepage, Bill Elliott and Derrike Cope.

Notably, point leader Jeff Burton will take the green flag from the sixth spot on the grid.

Editor's note:
Motorsport.com has learned that the times posted by Kurt Busch have been disallowed, moving him out of third position on the grid to 40th for the official starting lineup. Starting with Casey Mears, position 4th to 40th have moved up one position to slide Kurt Busch onto the grid using owner points.