Hendrick Motorsports

DARLINGTON, S.C. (March 19, 2004) – Driving the No. 5 Lowe’s Chevrolet, Kyle Busch nabbed his first-ever NASCAR Busch Series pole position during Friday’s qualifying session at Darlington Raceway.

“It was a lot of fun and a lot of white knuckles,” Busch said.  “We got all we could get out of the car.”

Busch, 18, who started eighth and finished second to teammate Brian Vickers in the Busch Series race at Darlington last August, was clocked at 169.619 mph (29.164 seconds) around the 1.366-mile oval.

Kasey Kahne, Kenny Wallace, Greg Biffle and Jason Leffler rounded out the top five.

Since joining Hendrick Motorsports in February 2003, Busch has earned four pole positions, including three in ARCA Series competition.  He ran a limited schedule last season before going full-time on the Busch Series circuit this year.

Saturday’s Busch Series event will be broadcast live on FX (12:30 p.m. ET) and MRN Radio (12:45 p.m. ET).