KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) – Jimmie Johnson broke the track qualifying record Friday at Kansas Speedway to take the pole for Sunday’s Banquet 400.

Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth, meanwhile, continued his recent struggles and had to rely on a provisional starting position for a second straight week.

Johnson’s quick lap of 180.373 mph in a Chevrolet broke the year-old mark of 177.924 mph by Dale Earnhardt Jr. The lap around the 1-mile tri-oval gave Johnson his second pole of the season.

Seventeen other drivers also broke that record, aided by cool temperatures that hovered in the mid-60s all afternoon.

Kenseth, who leads Kevin Harvick by 354 points and Earnhardt by 384, crashed in practice and turned in a disappointing lap of 175.547 in qualifying. Last week, he blew an engine and finished 33rd after starting 37th.

Bobby Labonte qualified fourth as Chevrolets took three of the top four spots. Skinner is in a Pontiac.

After Labonte came Rusty Wallace, Jason Leffler, Jeff Gordon, Bill Elliott, Jeff Green and Elliott Sadler.

“I made a few technical errors with my entry into Turn 3, but I don’t know how much difference that would have made,” said Earnhardt, who went 179.581 said. “Probably not enough to beat Jimmie or Mike, but I was real happy with the lap.”

So was Skinner, who turned in a quick lap of 179.647.

“I wasn’t quite good enough to catch Jimmie, so congratulations to him,” Skinner said. “I’m just happy about our run today.”

Gordon, who won in 2001 and 2002, is trying to become the first Winston Cup driver to win the first three races at a new track.

“We made it better, but just not quite good enough,” Gordon said. “I got through Turns 1 and 2 pretty good but I just missed a little bit in 3 and 4.”

Michael Waltrip, coming off a victory at Talladega, qualified 31st. Earlier, he won the pole for Saturday’s Busch series race.

Sadler’s fifth-row start comes a week after a scary crash at Talladega, when his car went flipping down the backstretch after he made contact with Kurt Busch.

Sadler was not injured in the wreck and was back behind the wheel on Tuesday.

“As far as my progress this week, it’s been pretty good,” Sadler said Friday. “I was a little sore Sunday night and I had a pretty good headache. I started feeling a little better Monday, and I went and got some therapy done – some muscle relaxing and things like that to try to help me recuperate.”

Larry Foyt, who cracked his left wrist in another crash at Talladega, did not qualify on time for Sunday’s race and is out of provisionals.

“The biggest thing was taking my left hand out of the equation a little bit,” Foyt said. “I’m used to pulling a lot with my left arm, so I’m trying to drive more with my right arm. I’m disappointed because this is one of my favorite cars.”

AP-ES-10-03-03 1958EDT