KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Jason Leffler posted a speed of 165.812 mph in the No. 2 Team ASE/Carquest Racing Dodge to earn the pole position for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race during Bud Pole Qualifying at Kansas Speedway on Friday.

The pole is Leffler’s fifth of the season, and sets a new track qualifying record for trucks at Kansas Speedway.

“We’re having a great year. I’m having a lot of fun in the Truck Series,” said Leffler, who also sat on the pole for the inaugural Protection One 400 NASCAR Winston Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway in September 2001. “We hit on a good setup last year and we’ve just unloaded great. I thought we had a good chance at the pole today, but there’s a big difference between thinking it and winning it.”

Ricky Hendrick, who moved to the NASCAR Busch Series for the 2002 season, was the 2001 winner of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250.

Current Craftsman Truck Series points leader Ted Musgrave, who also happens to be Leffler’s teammate, will start Saturday’s race on the outside pole in the No. 1 Mopar Performance Dodge. “This is a nice, consistent racetrack. First class, I’ll tell you,” Musgrave said. “The truck’s running real good; my teammate was just faster today. Consistency’s going to be the key here.”

Rounding out the top five are Bill Lester in the No. 8 Dodge Motorsports Dodge; Mike Bliss in the No. 16 IWX Motor Freight/Knights Inn Chevrolet; and Rick Crawford in the No. 14 Circle Bar Motel & RV Park Ford.

“We’re really happy with how we finished in this qualifying session; it’s my career best,” said Lester, the top-qualifying rookie for Saturday’s race. “No offense to Ted or Jason, but I’m after ’em. It’s a learning process for me. I got a very late start at this; it’s a steep learning curve. I’m encouraged at how we’re doing right now.”

Start time for the race is noon CDT on Saturday, July 6. On Sunday, July 7, Kansas Speedway will host the Indy Racing Infiniti Pro Series Kansas 100 at 10:10 CDT, followed by the Indy Racing Ameristar Casino Indy 200 at noon.