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Ryan Newman stops for tires and fuel at Pocono Raceway en route to another second place. (Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR) ยป More Photos
Ryan Newman is on fire. The man teammate Kurt Busch once christened "The King of Fridays" captured his third consecutive pole Friday at Pocono Raceway, where he took the top spot for the Pocono 500.
Newman blistered the 2.5-mile, three-turn Pocono track with a lap of 170.062 miles per hour in his Penske Racing Dodge Charger, plenty good enough to relegate two-time defending track pole-winner Denny Hamlin to the outside of Row 1. Hamlin ran 169.278 mph in his Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo, but it was no match for Newman today.
The pole run was Newman's fourth this season and 41st of his career in just 202 Nextel Cup starts. More significantly, he picked up 1.28 seconds over his morning practice time to lock up the top spot. "The guys have done an awesome job with the Alltel Dodge to be fast off the truck," Newman said. "We did three laps in race trim and two more in qualifying trim and just really can't complain. These guys are doing an awesome job for me. It makes my job a lot easier. It was a good lap. It was smooth. The track picked up so much grip after practice that we totally bypassed the 53-second bracket. We went from a 54.18 (-second lap) to a 52.90. Part of that's the racetrack and part of that is the guys stepping it up so much."
Now the next challenge for Newman will be getting his car back to victory lane for the first time since fall 2005 in New Hampshire. Newman came close to winning Monday at Dover, where he finished second, and he's eager to win soon. "I never thought it would have slipped away in the first place, but I think as long as we keep putting ourselves in position and qualifying as well as having fast racecars in
If he wants to win on Sunday and he does Newman will have to best some stiff competition. Starting on Row 2 Sunday will be Dover winner Martin Truex, Jr., 168.710 mph in a Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet and Kyle Busch, who ran 168.139 mph in the first of four Hendrick Motorsports Chevys. Rounding out the top five was Clint Bowyer, with a lap of 168.058 mph in a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Ten of the top 13 qualifiers were in Chevrolets, with only Newman, eighth-place Kasey Kahne (Dodge) and Brian Vickers (ninth in a Toyota) breaking up the parade of the Bowtie Brigade drivers. Other notables included Tony Stewart in sixth, one spot ahead of defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 13th and Jeff Gordon in 18th.
Of the go-or-go-home drivers at Pocono, Vickers, Dave Blaney, Ward Burton, Paul Menard, A.J. Allmendinger, David Reutimann and Scott Riggs all made the show, as did Bill Elliott, who used his first past-champion's provisional to make the race. Rookie Chad McCumbee, who is subbing for Kyle Petty while the veteran moves to the TV booth for the first of five races, qualified 35th to make his first Cup race.
Drivers who failed to qualify were Michael Waltrip and his teammate Dale Jarrett, Jeremy Mayfield, Kenny Wallace, Mike Bliss and Kevin Lepage. Waltrip has now missed 12 of 14 races this season.
POCONO 500 QUALIFYING RESULTS
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