Series points leader Martin Truex Jr. captured the pole for Saturday afternoon's United Way 300 Busch race at the Kansas Speedway. The No.8 Chance 2 Motorsports Chevrolet circled the 1.5-mile oval in a Busch track record 30.178 seconds (178.938 m.p.h.). The old mark was 30.275 seconds (178.365 m.p.h.) set in October 2003 by Michael Waltrip. The pole victory was Truex Jr.'s second of the season and ninth of his Busch career. Starting on the front row with Truex Jr. will be Jon Wood who posted a second- best time of 30.196 seconds. Regan Smith (30.208) and Kasey Kahne (30.281) will start in row two. Unlike the Nextel Cup championship which artificially changes the totals for the last 10 races to make certain of a title "race," the Busch Series title battle between defending champion Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer has evolved naturally. Truex Jr. owned a huge 194-point margin with nine races to go, but following finishes of 15th, 27th and 12th now has just a 26-point lead. "It has been a wild ride these last couple of weeks," said Bowyer on his website. "Not that many races ago we were safely in second place and Truex Jr. was looking like he was going to take this thing without a fight. Fortunately the pendulum swung in our direction and we are right back fighting for the championship. This is exciting for our ACDelco team, our sponsors and most importantly the fans." Bowyer will start 10th in the 43-car field. Joe Nemechek, 12th on the grid, is the defending race champion in both the Busch and Nextel Cup Series. The race is set to begin on Saturday at 2 p.m. (edt).