Kyle Busch rallies to win the pole for Sunday's Shelby 427 at Las Vegas...but Jimmie Johnson will start No. 1

  

  
Jimmie Johnson has had bad luck in the season's first two NASCAR races, but Friday he lucked out (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   LAS VEGAS
   After blowing an engine in morning practice, Kyle Busch recovered to post the fastest time (185.995 mph) in Friday qualifying for Sunday's Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedeway. But Busch, by changing engines, will have to start from the rear of the field….which puts third-fastest Jimmie Johnson on the pole for the 1:30 p.m. PST start (4:30 EST).
   Busch's motor problems denied this town a Busch-and-Busch 'hometown' front row. Kyle's older brother Kurt was the day's second fastest; they're both Las Vegas natives.
  While this track has been a great place for Ford team owner Jack Roush, whose star of the moment is Matt Kenseth, two-for-two this season, Friday runs weren't kind to Ford.
   Two of the season's best-known underdogs, Scott Riggs (in Tommy Baldwin's car) and Jeremy Mayfield (in his own car), failed to make the field. There were 51 teams vying for the 43 spots.
   The 12 fastest drivers all broke the track record, set by Kasey Kahne in 2007, the first year on the new asphalt. Kyle Busch pointed to Goodyear's new tire as key to the speeds.