Newman strolls to Bud Pole at The Rock

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- When it comes to winning Bud Poles, Ryan Newman certainly has a very non-rookie-like grasp of the situation.

	Credit: Autostock

Newman bumped Jamie McMurray off the top spot with a lap of 155.836 mph (23.494 sec) for his fifth pole of the season and sixth of his career, which encompasses less than two full seasons.

Currently fourth in the point standings, Newman now leads all drivers with the most pole awards this year.

"The thing about qualifying is that it's just you out there making two laps," Newman said. "I don't know what makes me so good at it, I just like to go out and drive the car as fast as I can. This isn't a track you talk about single grooves at. Here, we talk about three and four lanes of racing.

"I really like this race track, it's a lot fun. It's a driver's race track."

Newman also thanked his mentor, a former legendary leadfoot known for finding the quick way around a racetrack.

"Buddy Baker was pretty instrumental in helping me out at this track," Newman said. "Anything you can beat somebody else at when you've got 40-something other competitors in the garage is what we're here for. I'm happy to have had a good run, but this is one small race compared to the race on Sunday."

McMurray, filling in for Sterling Marlin, was on the verge of making history -- again, in his first-ever Winston Cup qualifying run. Last month at Lowe's Motor Speedway, the rookie-to-be in 2003 captured a checkered flag in his second Winston Cup Series start.

Because of rain, McMurray had made his three previous races on owner's points.

"It certainty didn't feel as fast as it was," McMurray said. "We tested here and went through 15 sets of tires doing just sticker runs. So I knew we were going to be good -- but I didn't expect to be that good.

"My lap was really loose and I felt like we left something out there. When it was all said and done it looked pretty good. Ryan Newman is just incredible. There are good racers, but he is just a fast driver and it's pretty impressive to run that fast."

McMurray was fifth in the morning practice.

"When practice was over, I told the team if we were in the top 10 qualifying I'd be happy," McMurray said. "My Busch car has been helping me out a lot because of all the track time I'm getting in both cars. That's really been the key to my consistency."

Point leader Tony Stewart qualified 24th while Mark Martin, who trails Stewart by 146 points, will roll off fifth.

Dale Jarrett, Terry Labonte, Bobby Hamilton, Steve Park, Mike Wallace, Casey Atwood and Brett Bodine took provisionals. Both Jarrett and Park are past winners.

Ron Hornaday, Carl Long, Hideo Fukuyama, Tim Sauter and Tony Raines failed to make the race.