Kurt Busch sets Darlington record

Darlington, S.C. • Kurt Busch ended up on top at Darlington Raceway a week after finishing upside-down at Talladega.

Five days ago, Busch went airborne near the end of the Aaron's 499 and crash landed on Ryan Newman.

On Friday, Busch sped around Darlington with a fast lap of 181.918 mph for his third career pole here. It surpassed the 2-year-old mark of 181.254 mph held by Kasey Kahne.

"Last week, we ended on our lid and this week, we're here with a track record," Busch said.

Defending Southern 500 champion Jimmie Johnson will start alongside Busch, followed by Busch's younger brother Kyle, Kahne and Martin Truex Jr.

It's been quite a week for the elder Busch.

There was the frightening crash in the last Sprint Cup race, then an Indy Car test session for Michael Andretti at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday. It's also the 10-year anniversary of the thrilling, side-by-side duel with Ricky Craven in which Busch lost the race by .002 seconds — the closest finish in Sprint Cup since the series went to electronic timing in 1993.

Busch joined with Craven earlier in the week to talk about their metal-swapping duel, where both crossed the line in a virtual tie while grinding on each other. Busch said he felt like a winner because he raced hard and clean and gave all he could in chasing victory.

"Maybe I'm on the way to winning by two-thousands of a second," he said, grinning.

Nationwide Series • Kyle Busch took the lead from Joey Logano 18 laps from the end to win his fifth Nationwide race this season and second in three years at Darlington Raceway on Friday night. —

NASCAR Southern 500

O Saturday, 4:45 p.m.

TV • Ch. 13