In what seems to be a weekly sight, Ryan Newman poses with the Bud Pole Award. Credit: Autostock

Newman appears to have Bud Pole priority

At Darlington and Homestead, it might be a good idea for the rest of the NASCAR Nextel Cup field to simply concede the pole to Ryan Newman and just try for outside the front row.

Newman won his fourth straight pole position Friday and clinched the $100,000 Bud Pole Award for the second straight season. It was no contest, either.

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Newman was fastest in practice (134.847 mph) for the Checker Auto Parts 500 and blasted to the pole at 135.854, nearly four-tenths of a second and two full miles per hour faster than rookie Brian Vickers (133.879).

It was his third straight pole at Phoenix, his ninth of the season and the 27th of his brief career, tying him for 12th on the all-time list with Terry Labonte.

Newman's average start here is 9.25, despite the three straight poles, and his finishing average is 25.5, which gives the rest of the field some hope. Newman's best finish here is third last year.

Among those chasing the Nextel Cup, Tony Stewart was next in line in sixth. He practiced fifth at 133.442 mph and qualified sixth at 133.432. Stewart averages 18.4 for starting positions at PIR, and he finished at a 9.2 clip, including a victory in 1999.

Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon was awful in practice (132.377 mph, good for 16th), but rebounded nicely on the clocks to wind up eighth at 133.116. Gordon is consistent at PIR, qualifying an average of 10.636 and finishing at an average of 9.636, so he's a little better than normal this time around. PIR is one of the tracks upon which Gordon has never won in 11 starts.

As has been the case at most of the tracks in the Chase, Elliott Sadler has not had good luck at PIR. His average start is 28.2 and his best start here was 14th. He earned his first top-10 start here on Friday, clocking in just behind Gordon at 133.111 mph. His finishing average at PIR in five races is 24.0, so there is still work to do on Sunday.

Jimmie Johnson, winner of the past three races in the Chase and now fourth in the points, logged in 13th at 132.876 mph. That's seven spots better than his average start (20.0), and his best start was third last year. Johnson, the hottest driver in the series these days, has finished second and 15th in his two races here, giving him an average of 8.5.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., hoping to salvage some of the damage inflicted with his late-race crash at Atlanta last week, posted the 14th-fastest speed at 132.836 mph. That was a 1.3-mph pickup from practice for Earnhardt, who was 30th after the session. Earnhardt is the defending race champion, but his average start is a median 15.5 and his average finish is 17.5.

Matt Kenseth fell off from his 12th-best practice speed to start 16th, posting a lap at 132.548 mph. That's much better than his average start here, which is 28.75, and like always, Kenseth finishes a lot better than his starting spot. He averages 13.25 at the checkered flag in five starts.

Kurt Busch

Mark Martin has the best average start here at 8.562, but that didn't help him much on Friday. After practicing in the top 10, Martin fell to 22nd in qualifying at 132.105. That lap was more than a full mile per hour behind his practice speed (an eighth-fastest 133.190 mph). Martin won here in 1993 and averages 8.188 in finishing position here. He has eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 16 races at PIR.

Jeremy Mayfield wound up 24th after qualifying, slightly worse than his starting average of 22.22. Mayfield was 17th in practice (132.367) but fell off in qualifying to 131.965 mph. He has one top-10 start here (a 10th in 1996) in nine starts. His finishing average is 28.444, and he has one top-five finish: second in 2000.

The championship point leader, Kurt Busch, followed the template of his past several races: qualify in the back, finish near the front. Busch, who was 22nd in practice, wound up 28th in Sunday's starting lineup. His average start here in four races is 21.75, and his average finish is 15.25. Busch had his first stumble of the Chase last week at Atlanta with a blown engine, and he is hoping for a better result on Sunday.