Newman overwhelms field to take Bud Pole

LOUDON, N.H. -- Leading NASCAR Winston Cup Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Ryan Newman backed up his fast practice lap with a track record to take the Bud Pole on Friday afternoon at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Newman went out 41st of 44 drivers that attempted to qualify for Sunday's New Hampshire 300, as the last eight drivers put a blitz on the top-10.

Newman's second lap was in 28.802 seconds, 132.241 mph; and was good for his third pole of the season and the fourth of his career in only 35 starts.

"The guys did an awesome job preparing the ALLTEL/Mobil 1 Ford and we got a good draw, which was a small advantage," Newman said. "But I think the car was definitely the fastest one here all day and hopefully it'll be that good on Sunday."

One of the few drivers that improved on his second lap, Newman bettered Penske Racing teammate Rusty Wallace's two-year-old record of 28.835 / 132.089. Wallace qualified 15th on Friday.

"The car was good from the minute we unloaded it out of the truck," Newman said. "Those first laps felt pretty good and we just kept whittling on it all day and it just kept getting faster and faster.

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"It was just a good qualifying lap. I missed it a bit on my first one and just had to slow down a little bit, the tires came in a little better for the second one and I just took what it had and it felt really good."

Two drivers before Newman, Johnny Benson took a stab at his first pole since August 1997 when he ran 29.031 / 131.198.

"James Ince (crew chief) and the guys worked real hard all day to get the car more and more comfortable for me," Benson said. "I would've sure loved to have had a pole, but we had a couple guys behind us that were pretty good, too."

Benson, who was second to Newman in the morning practice, knocked former Winston Cup champion Bobby Labonte off the spot he had held while 27 other drivers failed. Labonte was trying to win his first pole since April 27, 2001.

Labonte had gone out 12th in the qualifying line, and his lap in 29.040 seconds, 131.157 mph held on until only six cars remained. It was still his best qualifying effort of the year; in a car he trashed at Richmond last weekend when he ran into Benson.

"I felt pretty good about our car in that last run that we made (in practice) -- our qualifying run -- so I wasn't totally surprised," Labonte said. "If you see someone go fast you know it's (track) capable but when you don't see anybody go as fast as they did in practice you've got to be careful on entry to the corners in case the track doesn't have as much grip as it did."

	Ryan Newman's No. 12 Ford set the track record Friday at NHIS. Credit: Autostock

NASCAR Busch Series point leader Greg Biffle, making his second start in place of the injured Bobby Hamilton, backed up his third-place practice lap by qualifying fourth at 131.121 mph in only his third Winston Cup attempt.

"Jimmy (Elledge, crew chief) and the guys brought a great car here," Biffle said. "It's been running really good since it got here (but) it was just a little too free on that qualifying lap."

Mike Skinner, who suffered first and second degree burns in a test-session crash Wednesday at Kansas Speedway; shook off that and a knee injury to qualify fifth, his second top-five start this season at NHIS.

"We seem to be better at qualifying," Skinner said. "The engine shop is working hard on the qualifying setup to give us more horsepower. I was surprised at what we ran considering the kind of week we've had.

"I think I lost it over there off Turn 2 when I got a little loose, but hopefully when we take the tape off it and get it in race trim we'll be better."

Kurt Busch, Mark Martin and Ricky Craven in Fords, Jeremy Mayfield in a Dodge and July 2001 NHIS winner Tony Stewart in a Pontiac rounded out the top 10.

Winston Cup championship leader Sterling Marlin will start 24th after a lap in 129.763 mph.

Last July's NHIS winner Ward Burton was too loose on his qualifying run and placed 27th on the grid with a lap in 128.467 mph.

VIDEO CLIPS Ryan Newman cruises to the Bud Pole at NHIS. Play video

Newman had forecast a possible track record in qualifying when he turned a best lap of 28.799 seconds, 132.255 mph in the two-hour pre-qualifying practice. He was the only one to better Wallace's former record in either practice or qualifying.

"It was just a good effort for the whole team," Newman said. "To get our third pole was important to me as a driver (because) it's something else we can win, the most poles."

Robby Gordon, who won the this event last year when it was held on the Friday of Thanksgiving weekend, scuffed the wall coming off Turn 4 in his second qualifying lap. He was 10th at that point and ended up 29th after running 129.283 mph.

Steve Park crashed between Turns 1 and 2 on his first qualifying lap when he slid up the racetrack and hit the wall with its right rear corner before slapping the concrete broadside. Park's Dale Earnhardt Inc. team took out its backup car to continue the weekend.

"It was a combination of too loose and going for it," Park said. "Once I got up out of the groove it was just in a long slide like being on ice. We crushed the right side of it."

Unlike July's New England 300, when four drivers crashed in the first practice and Park and Elliott Sadler had to go to backup cars for qualifying, only one driver hit the wall in practice.

Rookie of the year candidate Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet brushed the wall coming off Turn 4. That turn was the center of controversy in July when gravel pulled out of the track surface combined with rubber fragments to create treacherously little traction out of the single main groove.

Johnson only scuffed the right side of the car and barely interrupted his running. He ended up doing 37 laps, the eighth most of 44 cars that practiced but was only 31st on the time sheet.

"The race car is fine -- we just brushed the wall, nothing big," said Johnson, who was 15th here in July. "The track seemed to be back to normal and it seemed to be fine."

Johnson ended up 19th in qualifying.

"It seemed to be OK," he said. "I've been in trouble here since we arrived. Luckily I've got a great team and they got this car back in great shape. Chad (Knaus, crew chief) made some big adjustments and we're in good shape."

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sadler, Park, Mike Wallace, Brett Bodine, Hermie Sadler and Morgan Shepherd used provisionals to make the field and will line up 37th-43rd.

Carl Long again failed to qualify for his first race, when he ran only 127.611 mph, good for 41st fastest.