Kurt Busch wins pole position for NASCAR race in Fontana

Kurt Busch won the pole position Friday for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, his second race since being reinstated after a suspension.

Busch’s No. 41 Chevrolet will lead the field Sunday after he turned the fastest lap (185.142 mph) in the last of three rounds of qualifying on the two-mile oval.

Kevin Harvick -- the winner of the last two Cup races and Busch’s teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing -- qualified second.

Matt Kenseth and David Ragan qualified third and fourth, respectively, in their Toyotas. Ragan is filling in for the injured Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch’s younger brother and Kenseth’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Kurt Busch returned to the Cup series last weekend in Phoenix, where he finished fifth, after missing the first three races of the season.

The former Cup champion was suspended by NASCAR before the season-opening Daytona 500 amid domestic-violence allegations lodged against him by Busch’s ex-girlfriend. Busch denied the allegations.

After Busch agreed to follow NASCAR’s guidelines for reinstatement and prosecutors said they would not file any criminal charges against Busch, his suspension was lifted.

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