Kurt Busch had never run anything right in Kansas, and a spin-out during practice on Friday then I do not think he was about to change course.
Less than 24 hours and a few tweaks later, Busch captured the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at Kansas Speedway and has reversed a decade of bad luck on the 1.5 mile track.
Busch, who was never higher than seventh in 10 career starts in Kansas, and has never finished in the top five, top of the leaderboard at 174.752 mph in his No. 22 Dodge on Saturday.
Busch broke out of a funk extended with a fourth place last week in Charlotte. He had to have front end damage repaired after spinning on Friday, and this and other changes helped produce his first pole since Michigan in June and 13th of his career.
"I want to thank my guys for standing behind me, not only through (Friday), but through hard times, we lived so far behind," said Busch. "It's a fantasy world, a world of motorsports. One day you're down, the next day you're up. "
Juan Pablo Montoya will start second in Sunday's race, followed by Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers.
Joey Logano qualified fifth, giving Toyota three cars in the top five.
"Much better than we expected," said Kyle Busch. "The guys did a good job with it and gave me a good piece to run a good game. It is everything you could ask. We had a sort of battle this weekend so far and try to make something out of nothing here. "
Jamie McMurray, who grew up near Joplin, Missouri, and visited the city devastated by a tornado Thursday sessions begin.
Sprint Cup points leader Carl Edwards, also a native of Missouri, will begin sessions - the highest of any of Ford in the field.
"I will not say exactly what I did wrong, but I know that was something," said Edwards. "I think we have a very good chance in this race and that means a lot to me."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. pulse after a terrible final second, but promising in Charlotte won a qualifying race with 28. Jimmie Johnson, who beat Edwards to win here in 2008, will start 31 - by far their worst position in Kansas.
Sunday's race marks the halfway point of the Sprint Cup season and three drivers looking to get into the Chase for the championship of Sprint Cup qualifying is the hope of becoming the first winner of Kansas on three occasions.
Tony Stewart (13), Greg Biffle (14 th) and Jeff Gordon (22) have a couple of wins here - but none of them will start in the top 10.
Gordon, who took Kansas first two races in 2001-02, has seven top-five on the track and four in a row.
Biffle won his first time in 2007, won again last fall event and Chase is the best assessment of drivers of any driver in Kansas, before Johnson. Stewart defeated Kansas in 2006 and 2009.
Of course, the way this season has been all but a realistic chance of victory. Only five of the 12 winners of the Cup series so far this season has started from 20 or better.
It was the first Sprint Cup on the schedule for Kansas, which added an event for 2011. Drivers expect the track to be warm and good for Sunday's race, which starts at the local time.
The track will host the competition outside the traditional 9 October.
"There are a number of differences here in June, and how hot it is, but I'm always looking midsize If you have struggled for some time, so maybe -.. It was not," said Busch.