NASCAR's Kahne On a Roll, Claims Pocono Pole

What a difference a race makes.

Before the All Star race at Charlotte, if you had told Kasey Kahne that he would win a race and a pole within three weeks; chances are he probably would have laughed in your face.

However, after those three weeks, that's exactly what Kahne has done. Claiming a Coca-Cola 600 win, Kahne is continuing his hot streak by claiming the pole for Sunday's Pocono 500.

Setting on the point with a speed of 170.219, Kahne knocked Jimmie Johnson off the pole three-fourths of the way through the qualifying session.

Several drivers surprised, with great qualifying efforts.

Among those drivers were was Mark Martin, who qualified his No.8, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated Chevrolet, in third position. Fellow DEI driver, Regan Smith, qualified fourth, and was followed in fifth by "Front Row" Joe Nemechek.

AJ Allmendinger and Scott Riggs also had great runs, qualifying in eighth and ninth positions, respectively. The "Wild Man" Kyle Busch qualified in 10th place.

• In other qualifying news of note, NASCAR veteran Terry Labonte qualified in 41st position in his first race of the season for Petty Enterprises. He is driving the #45 Dodge Charger for the next five races.

• Labonte is taking over the driver's seat for Kyle Petty, who moves into the broadcast booth for TNT's coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup races, this summer.

• The Gillette-Evernham Motorsports drivers got off to a good start for the race weekend, as Kasey Kahne was fastest in the initial practice session. Teammates Elliott Sadler and Patrick Carpentier both had top 10 practice speeds.

The second practice is scheduled for Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Final practice is scheduled for later that morning at 11:20 a.m.

The Pocono 500 is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Sunday on TNT.