Updated

Kyle Busch was the boss in practice, and he stayed out front in qualifying.

After leading a 90-minute midday practice session, Busch won the pole Friday for Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with a run of 133.417 miles per hour.

Busch ran last in the time-trial session and edged Kasey Kahne, who ran 133.403. Kahne had nipped Denny Hamlin by .001 of a second for the provisional pole.

“We just had to back up our practice time from earlier today, and we were able to do that,” Busch said.

The pole was the first of the season for Busch, who sits 12th in Sprint Cup points and currently holds one of the two wild-card spots for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Finishing out the top five were Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer.

In the second five were Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart.

Mike Bliss was the only driver to miss the field.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.