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Kyle Busch wins pole for Atlanta’s NASCAR race

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Snickers Almond Toyota, poses with the Pole Award trophy after qualifying for the pole position for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 23, 2018 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

Credit: Brian Lawdermilk

Credit: Brian Lawdermilk

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Snickers Almond Toyota, poses with the Pole Award trophy after qualifying for the pole position for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 23, 2018 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
By Staff and wire reports
Feb 24, 2018

Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. was the hot topic even as Kyle Busch won the pole Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton.

Busch will start in front Sunday in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, the second race of the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup season, after edging Ryan Newman. Busch won the pole with a lap of 184.652 mph.

Wallace will start 19th, in the middle of the 36-car field. Much of the talk Friday remained on his second-place finish in last week's Daytona 500 .

Wallace was the first black driver in the Daytona 500 field since 1969 . The second-place finish was the highest for a black driver and any rookie.

"It was just crazy, awesome," Wallace said Friday.

On Sunday, he'll be the first black Cup racer in an Atlanta race since Bill Lester finished 38th in 2006.

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