Mark Martin, fresh off a disappointing run at Martinsville, shed his troubles with a top-five qualifying effort. Credit: Autostock

Roush on Newman's heels in Atlanta quals

HAMPTON, Ga. -- It was hardly a surprise, as it was his sixth straight pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but Ryan Newman will get at least a little bit of a jump on his fellow Chasers in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 on Sunday.

Newman ripped off a lap at 193.928 miles per hour (28.588 seconds) to earn his sixth consecutive pole position at Atlanta. His lap, coming early in the night, was nearly two miles per hour than the polesitter at the time, which was fellow Chaser Tony Stewart.

Newman has a truly baroque qualifying average at Atlanta, 1.857, but his finishing average of 13.571 is just third-best among Chasers.

	Can Carl Edwards sweep Atlanta? Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Chase Atlanta qualifying Start Driver Speed 1 R. Newman 193.928 2 C. Edwards 193.420 4 M. Martin 192.520 10 T. Stewart 191.688 12 J. Johnson 191.569 16 G. Biffle 191.080 18 J. Mayfield 190.653 23 M. Kenseth 190.470 30 Ku. Busch 189.798 32 R. Wallace 189.396 Complete race lineup CHASE FOR THE NEXTEL CUP •   Inside the Chase •   Official Standings

The other driver with a miniscule starting average, Carl Edwards, was right in Newman's tire tracks in second place, clicking off a lap at 193.420 mph (28/663 seconds). Edwards has two starts at Atlanta, and his average is 4.000, and as the winner of the spring race, his average finish is a whopping 2.000.

Mark Martin, fresh off a disappointing run at Martinsville, shed his troubles with a fourth-place showing at 192.520 mph (28/797 seconds). Martin, who has won twice at Atlanta, has a 10.564 average start here, and his average finish is 16.384, sixth-best among Chasers.

Stewart, the point leader after Martinsville, was surprisingly quick in his Home Depot Chevrolet, reeling off a lap at 191.688 mph (28.922 seconds). He had timed in 24th in the final practice, so his lap was somewhat a surprise. He'll start 10th, better than his average of 16.076, and he's hoping to do better than his average finish of 13.769 on Sunday.

Stewart's main rival for the title, Jimmie Johnson, timed in 12th at 191.569 mph (28.940 seconds). Johnson has solid starting and finishing averages -- 9.000 starting and 12.000 finishing -- which rank third and second, respectively among Chasers.

Greg Biffle, back at home on 1.5-mile tracks, qualified 17th in his Ford, clicking off a lap at 191.080 mph (29.014 seconds). His starting and finishing averages are middle of the road here. HE average 14.200 for a start and 13.600 per finish.

Feeling goodStewart is pretty happy with his car after the first practice session Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Jeremy Mayfield, in his first race without crew chief Slugger Labbe, was 19th in the rundown, with his lap at 29.079 seconds, 190.653 mph. Labbe left the team earlier in the week and team manager Kenny Francis is calling the shots this weekend. Mayfield averages 16.631 per start, eighth among Chasers, and his finishing average of 21.000 is ninth.

Matt Kenseth is not usually a good qualifier at Atlanta (starting average of 25.636 is worst among Chasers), but he was pretty respectable on Friday. He timed in 23rd with a lap at 29.107 seconds, 190.470 mph. His average finish is 19.000, eighth among Chasers.

Kurt Busch, who rallied somewhat with a sixth-place run at Martinsville, was 30th on Friday, running a lap at 29.210 seconds, 189.798 mph. Busch averages 18.222 for a start at Atlanta, ninth among Chasers, and his finishing average of 27.500 is worst among the top 10.

Rusty Wallace was not fast in practice and that translated to qualifying. He logged in 34th, running a lap at 29,272 seconds, 189.396 mph in the Miller Lite Dodge. He was double his average starting spot (16.065) and hopes to halve his existing finishing average (16.913) on Sunday.

As for manufacturers, Dodge took the top spot with Newman, while the Fords of Edwards and Martin came next in second and fourth, respectively. Chevrolets were 10th and 12th, while Biffle's Ford was 17th and the remaining Dodge of Mayfield was 19th. Fords of Kenseth and Busch rounded out that make, while Wallace's Dodge brought up the rear.