So when GQ magazine came out with its Ten Most Hated Athletes earlier this year, the top names on the list were predictable. You know, Terrell Owens, Barry Bonds, Kurt Busch.

He earned the pole at Sunday's Dodge/Save Mart 350 by turning in a sizzling qualifying lap of 93.055 mph at Infineon Raceway on Friday afternoon. Jamie McMurray, who is not known for his road-course expertise, cruised his lap at 92.948 and will join Busch on the front row. Bakersfield native Kevin Harvick qualified third, followed by Ryan Newman.

What will be missing from the top of Sunday's starting grid are the usual kings of the road. Jeff Gordon, a four-time winner at Sonoma, put his stock car in the dirt -- ruining a potential pole-sitting lap. Gordon still deftly avoided spinning out and managed to salvage the day's 11th-best time. Next to him Sunday will be last year's winner Tony Stewart, who had only the 12th-fastest lap.

Robby Gordon, the 2003 champ here, will start 14th. Meanwhile the only other Sonoma winner in the field, Mark Martin, will sit eighth on Sunday's starting grid.

Jeff Gordon's foray into off-road racing -- in particular -- was a rare mistake that helped put Busch at the front of the qualifying pack as drivers took turns navigating one lap around Infineon's winding, 10-turn, 1.99-mile course.

That's not all Busch is trying to do these days. With a new race team this year, Penske Racing South, Busch is trying hard to create a new image for himself -- including off-season cosmetic surgery to pin back his prominent ears closer to his head.

Busch, who finished third here last year, said he feels like he has turned a corner in recent weeks with Penske. Although he's currently only 16th in the points standings, he took ninth at Michigan last Sunday and now driving the old car of Rusty Wallace -- another noted road warrior -- he's set up to gain more ground Sunday.

But it won't be easy. Jeff Gordon and Stewart certainly will be factors, and road-course specialist Boris Said qualified fifth and will be a threat.

Then there's the weather. Infineon is a tough, tricky course under the best of conditions. But the heat wave that cooked the pavement to 122 degrees Friday also will make for a slippery, greasy track Sunday. And oval-loving NASCAR drivers traditionally have trouble staying off the dirt, anyway.

This is cache, read story here