Elliott nips Newman for Bud Pole

HAMPTON, Ga. -- One might successfully wager his 401(k) on whether or not the boys down the road in Dawsonville were commencing a weekend-long party Friday night.

Bill Elliott, Georgia’s native son in the Winston Cup Series and the 41st of 45 cars to qualify Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, stole the Bud Pole for Sunday’s MBNA America 500 away from anxious rookie Ryan Newman as the sun began to set over central Georgia.

			Bill Elliott

Elliott coursed the 1.54-mile oval in 28.944 seconds at 191.542 mph, more than six mph off Geoffrey Bodine’s 1997 track record. Afterward, he was quick to give love to his Peach State support system.

“Over the past several years, up until last year, I wondered where I’d end up,” said Elliott, reflecting on the down years in the late '90s. “The fans that supported me through the ‘80s stuck with me through thick and thin. The fans down here (in Georgia) are great. This is great, but we gotta forget about today and focus on Sunday afternoon.”

Newman, who fell just eight-thousandths of a second short of his second career Winston Cup Bud Pole, was in his transporter watching the session on television when Elliott ripped off the day’s best lap.

“My dad was with me, he punched me in the arm and said, ‘He gotcha,’” Newman said with a wide grin. “It’s still gonna be an honor to start alongside a guy like Bill, though, at his home track. That’s pretty special.”

Newman, whose car registered just 18th quickest on the practice chart Friday, earned the pole last year for the fabled Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in just his third career start and first at Charlotte. He darn near started on the pole in his first run at Atlanta, too.

“For a while there I thought I was gonna do it again,” said Newman, referring to his having started on the pole in his first Busch start here last season.

Elliott, whose last pole came in November at Homestead, had qualified no better than 23rd this season previously and hadn’t sat on the pole at Atlanta since 1991. Overall, he now has 52 career poles.

			Ryan Newman

“I was pretty surprised, actually,” Elliott said. “But I knew the car was pretty good.”

Pretty good, but not pole material. Until a last-minute air pressure change, anyway.

“We changed the car quite a bit from practice,” Elliott said. “Right before I went out we made some air pressure changes, and low and behold, we hit it right on the money. That’s rare in this business. We got the feel I was looking for, and I was able to put that No. 9 Dodge out front.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start third, his best start since he earned the pole here last November. Junior’s best start this year was fifth at Daytona. His best finish, a 16th-place effort last week at Las Vegas. He aims to change that Sunday.

“I think we can get a win here,” Junior said. “This was a track my father was real successful at, and I paid close attention to that. Although the configuration is different, the corners are the same. I really enjoy running here. I’m gonna get a win here sooner or later, if not a lot of them.”

Kurt Busch will start fourth Sunday and Jimmy Spencer fifth. Ricky Craven is sixth and Dale Jarrett seventh.

Kevin Harvick, last year’s winner in one of the most emotionally rousing finishes in NASCAR history, rolls off eighth, while Tony Stewart and Johnny Benson round out the top 10.