LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) – A week off hasn’t cooled down Kasey Kahne.

The 23-year-old rookie, who missed winning the race Feb. 22 at Rockingham by inches, grabbed his first NASCAR Nextel Cup pole Friday in a record-smashing qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that featured NASCAR’s “Young Guns.”

“I messed the first lap up a little bit, but I got it straightened out,” said Kahne, who watched nervously from the top of his team’s transporter until Kurt Busch, the last of 44 drivers to making qualifying runs, came up just short.

Kahne, driving a Dodge for Evernham Motorsports in only his third Cup start, turned a lap of 174.904 mph, leading 15 drivers who surpassed the previous track qualifying record of 173.016, set last year by Bobby Labonte.

The youngster was asked if winning his first pole was more exciting than nearly beating defending series champion Matt Kenseth for the win at Rockingham.

Sunday’s UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 is expected to be the first real test for NASCAR’s new combination of a shortened rear spoiler and softer tires – both intended to make racing on intermediate tracks such as this 1-mile oval more exciting.

The softer tires and decreased downforce certainly made the cars faster on Friday, and it was NASCAR’s twentysomethings who took greatest advantage of the new rules.

The 25-year-old Busch, driving a Roush Racing Ford, had a lap of 174.548 – which was 0.063-seconds slower than that of Kahne. That broke up a “Kiddie Corps” front row, shoving 20-year-old Brian Vickers, another rookie in his third start, to the second row.

“It was a pretty good lap,” Busch said. “I’m proud of that effort. When we came here to test in January, this car was going to be our “B’ car. But we kept polishing on it and it just kept getting better.

“To come up short like that was a bit disappointing, but we’ve had a great start to our season.”

Vickers, last year’s Busch series champion, turned a lap of 174.537 in a Hendrick Chevrolet.

Jamie McMurray, 27, last year’s top rookie, was fourth in a Dodge at 174.436, followed by the Intrepid of 2002’s leading rookie, Ryan Newman, 26. He came into the day as the favorite but came up considerably short of winning his 20th career pole at 174.340.

“We were going for it and I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t get it,” said Newman, who won a series-high 11 poles and eight races last season. “I think we were one of the few teams that didn’t come out here to test.

“Just to be able to come home with a top five is a lot to be said considering the new tires and rule changes.”

Busch’s 18-year-old brother, Kyle, also impressed, qualifying 18th in his first-ever Cup start. The younger Busch, a regular in the Busch series this season, turned a lap of 172.955.

Rounding out the top 10 were Jeremy Mayfield at 174.267, Bobby Labonte at 173.863, rookie Brendan Gaughan at 173.823, Greg Biffle at 173.807 and Bill Elliott, making his first Cup start of the season after cutting back to a limited schedule. He went 173.768.

Kenseth, whose victory here last year was the only win of his championship season, qualified 25th at 171.679. He started 17th last March.

Series leader Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the Daytona 500 and finished fifth at Rockingham – the only driver with two top-five finishes this season – qualified 26th at 171.516.

Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon qualified 20th at 172.469 despite bouncing hard off the fourth turn wall on his fast lap.

For the second straight race, there were barely enough entries to fill the 43-car field, with only Busch series driver Larry Gunselman failing to make the lineup.

Among the drivers who will did make the field were “field fillers” Morgan Shepherd, who qualified at 164.986, Carl Long at 163.701 and Kirk Shelmerdine at 163.320.

NASCAR was embarrassed at Rockingham when 60-year-old Joe Ruttman had to be blackflagged off the track after one lap when it was discovered he had no pit crew. He entered the race only because he was assured more than $54,000 for making the field.

Series officials said all of the drivers entered at Las Vegas have full pit crews and were qualified to race.