March 20, 1999 8:13 AM EST

DARLINGTON, South Carolina (Ticker) -- Mark Martin, who broke the track qualifying record, will start from the front of the grid today in the NASCAR Busch series Diamond Hill Plywodd 200.

Martin grabbed his second pole of the year and third at Darlington with an average speed of 166.568 miles per hour Friday at Darlington Raceway, breaking Jeff Green's 1996 record of 166.337 mph. He covered the 1.3-mile speedway in 29.5 seconds in his Ford Taurus.

Martin will be joined in the front row by Roush Racing teammate Jeff Burton, another Winston Cup regular who runs Busch series races.

Defending race champion Labonte crashed during Friday's morning practice. His Pontiac Grand Prix slid on some oil and crashed into the wall coming out of turn 2. Labonte hopped out of his car in obvious pain and was taken to Carolinas Hospital System in nearby Florence, where X-rays revealed a lower right tip scapula fracture.

Labonte withdrew from today's event. It is not known if he will be able to participate in Sunday's Winston Cup TranSouth Financial 400.

Last year, Martin won eight Winston Cup events, second only to Jeff Gordon. He also won twice on the Busch circuit and is atop this year's standings with 566 points.

Martin is the only Busch driver to have led laps in each race this year. His lone win came in the Sam's Town 200 at Las Vegas on March 6 as he led 150 laps.

Martin won this event in 1994 and 1996. Burton, who won the Las Vegas 400 on the Winston Cup circuit two weeks ago, won here in 1997 and was second last year.

Burton averaged 165.889 mph in his Ford. Dick Trickle, Geoffrey Bodine and defending series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- all driving Chevrolet Monte Carlos -- completed the top five. Green qualified 22nd.

Bodine has three wins in spring races at the track known as "The Lady in Black," most among active drivers. He won in 1989, 1988 and the inaugural 1982 event.

The 17th running of the Diamond Hill 200 is scheduled for 147 laps and will be televised by ESPN on tape delay at 5:30 p.m. EST.

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