Auto Racing | Busch clearly is No. 1

CONCORD, N.C. — Kyle Busch races beyond his years. He's more superstitious than a lot of 23-year-olds, too.

The hottest driver in the Sprint Cup declined a $50 bill from outgoing Lowe's Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler on Thursday, then continued his qualifying dominance at the track to earn the pole for the Coca-Cola 600.

Busch laughed off the offer from Wheeler, who was patrolling pit road a day after announcing he'll retire after 33 years at the track. Busch then turned in a lap of 185.433 mph in his No. 18 Toyota to edge out last week's All-Star race winner, Enumclaw's Kasey Kahne (185.300), who will join him on the front row Sunday for NASCAR's longest race.

"He took a fifty out of his pocket and then he was signing it," Busch said of Wheeler. "I said, 'I don't want that.' "

Brian Vickers qualified third, giving Toyota two of the top three spots. Greg Biffle of Vancouver, Wash., will start fourth, followed by David Ragan and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Busch will be the favorite to win his fourth Sprint Cup race of the season on Sunday. He has seven top-five finishes in 11 races and holds a 79-point lead over Jeff Burton in the season standings.

"I hope I'm not just here for this year, and then I'm done and all washed up at 24 years old," Busch said.

Busch told reporters two hours before qualifying that he didn't have a car capable of the pole. But after his crew worked on it, Busch went out 22nd out of 48 cars, running a clean lap to overtake Kahne.

"We had a good lap for what we had in practice," Kahne said. "It felt good. I knew Kyle and Brian would come close. We're just looking forward to Sunday's race."

Patrick stars

on media day

INDIANAPOLIS — An exhausted Danica Patrick spent nearly 50 minutes Thursday smiling, joking and explaining everything from her future plans to her new image.

She never even yawned.

Yes, the first woman to reach victory lane in a major race — and the unquestioned queen of the Indy Racing League — actually enjoyed playing the role of deft politician during Indianapolis 500 media day.

"This is something I have to take advantage of because you guys are watching, and the whole world is watching," said Patrick. "I'm not one of those drivers who sits back and says 'I'm tired, it's not worth it' because I know one day I won't be popular."

That's not the case now.

It has been a grueling month for Patrick at the 2.5-mile track. Aside from her full-time job, driving the No. 7 car for Andretti Green Racing, she's been the most requested driver for interviews, television appearances, charity dinners and sponsorship events.

Just reading the bookings is a tiresome chore for her teammates.

"I really appreciate the way she does things, because I would not want that for me," former series champ Tony Kanaan said. "I need my time to think about my race car, I need my time to work out. I just need my time."

Notes

• Kentucky Speedway moved a step closer to landing a Sprint Cup Series race when Speedway Motorsports Inc. added it to its growing portfolio of tracks. SMI owner Bruton Smith said he wants a date for his new track by 2009.

• Max Mosley emerged at the Monaco Grand Prix, his first Formula One appearance since the auto racing leader became embroiled in a sex scandal. BMW Sauber head Mario Theissen said he doesn't expect Mosley's presence to overshadow F1's marquee race.