Credit: Autostock

Newman primed for comeback with Bud Pole

Chase contenders spread through starting field at Charlotte

Ryan Newman's chances of winning the inaugural NASCAR Nextel Cup might look a little slender at the moment, but after the monster showing he put on here Thursday night the case could be made that he's a real threat to win the thing outright.

Ryan Newman

Newman, who has never started worse than fourth here, reclaimed his track record in Bud Pole qualifying at Lowe's Motor Speedway with a lap at 28.590, 188.877 miles per hour. Jimmie Johnson took the record from Newman here in May, and apparently Newman really wanted it back. Newman smashed Johnson's record of 28.869, 187.052 mph by .279 seconds and 1.825 miles per hour.

Newman had left little doubt as to who the favorite was in practice, running a lap at 28.870, 187.045 mph, and he put on quite a show when the green flag waved for real. It was his fourth pole in eight races here, and his average starting spot is miniscule 2.43. Thursday's record run was his third pole here in the last four races. Finishing well has been a problem, as he averages just 21.9 with three top-10 finishes.

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Elliott Sadler continued his recent uptick in qualifying, clocking in fifth in his Ford to earn his ninth top-10 start in the last 12 races. His average start is a rather modest 21.8, but he's been in the top 10 when the green waved five of the last six races here. His finishing average is 26.8, but he and his Robert Yates Racing crew have been on a roll of late. He was third in practice at 185.970 mph, and he also improved on his time a bit in qualifying. He could make some noise here on Saturday.

Jimmie Johnson

Johnson, who has a 10.0 average start here, wound up ninth in qualifying, picking up .212 seconds from his sixth-quickest time in practice. Johnson, who led 334 laps (500 miles, interestingly enough) here in May on the way to a dominating victory in the Coca-Cola 600, is a favorite for a third career triumph on Saturday. His average finish is 9.5, and he has not finished worse than seventh in five of his last six races here. He also has another victory here at Lowe's, which is good because Lowe's is his sponsor.

Mark Martin, who earlier in the day announced that 2005 would be his last attempt at the Nextel Cup, was 12th in qualifying, slightly worse than his 10.9 average start. Martin, who was fourth fastest in practice, has done well here, both in qualifying and the races, averaging a 16.2 finish in 39 races. He has four victories here in those 39 starts, in addition to 15 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes.

Jeremy Mayfield, who is 10th in the points after four Chase races, made a huge jump from practice to qualifying to wind up 13th. Mayfield went .468 seconds faster in qualifying than he did in practice, where he was 30th. Mayfield has an average start of 21.6 and an average finish of 22.3 here, so it's a matter of improving again when the green flag falls in anger.

Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart, who has managed to crawl back into the race for the title with a couple of solid finishes, is the defending race champion, and he wound up 15th in qualifying after practicing 14th quickest. Ironically, Stewart's average start here is 9.5, the same as his average finish. Stewart suffered through a mechanical failure here in May of last year, but came back to win the fall race by a healthy margin. It could happen again here Saturday.

Kurt Busch, the series point leader, was one of just two drivers in the Chase not to improve on his practice time in qualifying. Busch wound up 21st, better than his average start of 27.6 but nearly three-tenths of a second slower than his second-quick practice time. Busch has an average finish here of 19.6, so once again there's a statistical trend against him.

Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon, owner of seven poles here, was a disappointing 23rd in qualifying despite picking up slightly from practice, where he timed in ninth fastest. In addition to the seven poles, Gordon has eight more top-five starts here, and he finishes pretty well, averaging 14.3 in 23 starts. He has also won four times, including his first career victory here in 1993.

While Mayfield's jump from practice to qualifying was big, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s was even bigger. Earnhardt was 43rd in practice, a full 1.1 seconds behind Newman, but he rebounded to shave .657 seconds off that lap to wind up 25th. Earnhardt has had good luck and bad here, averaging 11.4 on starts and 16.8 in finishes. He does have a pole here, but his best finish is fourth, though he has five top-10 results for his career.

The other driver who failed to improve on his practice time was Matt Kenseth, and it was a major downer for the defending series champ. His lap at 29.604 seconds was .199 seconds slower than he practiced, and it left him 36th when it was all over. That's the bad news, however, as Kenseth has never qualified well here (25.8 average start). The good news is, no matter how bad he starts, he always seems to finish well. His average is 12.9, and he has four top-fives, six top-10s and a victory in his 10 races here.