CONCORD, N.C. (AP) – Scott Riggs remained perfect in qualifying at Lowe’s Motor Speedway by winning the pole Thursday night for the third time this season.

Riggs posted a lap at 191.469 mph to put his No. 10 Dodge in the top starting spot for Saturday night’s race. He also started first in the non-points Nextel Open and the Coca-Cola 600 in May.

Riggs edged Kasey Kahne, his Evernham Motorsports teammate, for the pole. Kahne went out early, posting a lap of 190.194 mph to sit on top of the leaderboard for most of the qualifying session. But when the sun set and temperature dropped, Riggs made his run and jumped to the top of the board.

“I knew the cooler it was, the better it was going to be,” Riggs said. “The track didn’t seem to have a lot of dew on it.”

Kurt Busch qualified third, but his Dodge was later disqualified because his right rear shock did not meet NASCAR specifications. He will now start 42nd.

Casey Mears now starts third, and Elliott Sadler, the third driver in the Evernham stable, is fourth. Dodge Chargers took the top five qualifying spots before Busch’s disqualification, and Reed Sorenson’s ninth-place effort gave Dodge six of the top nine.

Busch said the Charger has vexed most of the teams this season, and pointed out that he and Kahne are the only Dodge winners this year.

“That Dodge is the most finicky little thing I’ve ever driven, and if you hit it just right, you fly,” Busch said before learning of his DQ.

Chase for the championship contender Kevin Harvick qualified fifth and was followed by teammate Jeff Burton, the points leader, and fellow title chaser Mark Martin.

Clint Bowyer, Sorenson and five-time Charlotte winner Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top 10.

Matt Kenseth, who is six points out of the points lead, was 11th.

The rest of the Chase drivers are Dale Earnhardt Jr. (16th), Kyle Busch (18th), Denny Hamlin (22nd) and Jeff Gordon, who will start 41st in the worst Charlotte qualifying effort of his career. His previous low was 26th in 1998.

“We were just way too loose. We were off all day in practice, and when we went out for qualifying we were still way off,” Gordon said. “In race conditions, I know we’re good.”

The session was a huge disappointment for the new Team Red Bull, which had hired Bill Elliott to run the race as a practice session for its 2007 debut. But Elliott failed to make the field.

“We had a lot of enthusiasm going into the weekend, and that’s what you need to have when you are building a new team,” said Red Bull general manager Marty Gaunt. “Minor setbacks like this help us build character as a new team.”

AP-ES-10-12-06 2218EDT

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