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Leffler sets track record at Michigan Posted: Friday July 25, 2003 7:08 PMBROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- Jason Leffler won his 10th career pole in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series when he turned in the best qualifying time for the Sears 200 on Friday. Leffler broke the Michigan International Speedway record for trucks when he turned a lap at 178.037 mph in his Carquest Racing Dodge. Leffler, who won a race in May this year, finished second by a truck-length behind Brendan Gaughan in last week's race. He said racing spring cars in the USAC series has prepared him well for the trucks. "It is a great training ground," Leffler said. "You slide the cars around a lot in USAC and sometimes you slide around a lot in the truck series here." Chad Chaffin will start second in Saturday's 100-lap race despite turning a lap at 177.559, which broke the previous MIS record. "We were the fastest in practice and I felt we could win the pole," Chaffin said. "When Jason went out and did what he did, I felt like somebody cut me off at the ankles." Ted Musgrave will start third and Carl Edwards, who won two weeks ago at Kentucky, will start fourth in the 36-car field. Points leader Travis Kvapil will start from the ninth row. During a practice session, Michael Dokken crashed and was taken to a hospital in Jackson by helicopter. He was later transferred to the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor for further evaluation. Dokken was awake and alert after hitting the wall in Turn 3 and was still awake and alert later in the day, according to MIS spokesman Bill Janitz. The extent of Dokken's injuries was not immediately known, Janitz said. Dokken was cut out of the truck and transported by ambulance to the infield where a helicopter took him from the track. Dokken's best finish this year was a 14th at Memphis last month. He raced just three times last season as a substitute driver, and his best career finish was a third at Evergreen in 1997.
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