Kurt Busch wins pole at Darlington

Kurt Busch has set at Darlington Raceway record in earning the pole for the Southern 500.

Busch's lap of 181.918 mph Friday earned him his third career pole at Darlington and broke the two-year old mark of 181.254 mph held by Kasey Kahne. Defending champion Jimmie Johnson will start alongside Busch, followed by Kyle Busch, Kahne and Martin Truex Jr.

Kurt Busch got a strong start toward erasing an agonizing, 10-year-old memory at Darlington. He was second here in 2003 behind Ricky Craven by .002 seconds — the closest finish in Sprint Cup history since the series went to electronic timing in 1993.

The record lap came less than a week after Kurt Busch finished his race at Talladega by going airborne and landing on competitor Ryan Newman.