Apr 8, 2006 2 min read

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Kasey Kahne hopes his second Nextel Cup pole of the season translates into another trip to Victory Lane. Kahne qualified first Friday for the Samsung/RadioShack 500 with a fast lap of 190.315 mph. The Dodge driver’s other pole this year came last month at Atlanta, a similar 11/2-mile track where he also won the race.

“It was a great run, the team did an awesome job getting me a car that could go that fast,” Kahne said. “The car was a little better than what it was in practice.”

Kahne, who has eight career poles, will make his fifth top-10 start of the year.

Rookie J.J. Yeley qualified second with a lap at 189.374 mph in a Chevrolet to earn a spot on the front row with Kahne for the start of Sunday’s race. Mark Martin, second in the standings, qualified third with a lap at 189.029 mph in a Ford.

Points leader Jimmie Johnson will start 16th.

The rest of the top 10 was Jeff Green in a Chevrolet in the fourth position, Roush Racing teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth in Fords, Kurt Busch in a Dodge, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. in Chevrolets and Bobby Labonte in a Dodge.

Yeley’s best qualifying run in 13 career starts nearly didn’t happen. He got on the track with about 15 seconds to spare after needed technical adjustments following a pre-qualifying inspection. It’s Yeley’s fourth career top 10 and third this year.

“I was actually lucky even to get out there,” he said. “I just didn’t want to overdrive the car.”

Martin qualified third shortly before going out to race in the IROC series, the first of a tripleheader weekend for him. The 47-year-old Martin said he won’t be doing too many more three-race weekends after Texas.

Martin’s run ensured his best starting position since he started second at California in September 2005.