LOUDON, N.H. -- The voice came down from the spotter's stand and over the radio, as clear as if Keith Barnwell were sitting in the back seat. "You run faster lap times when you're not using the brake," he told driver Patrick Carpentier. "Let that thing roll through there."

And the rookie from Canada tried to do just that, fighting his old IndyCar nature to drive hard into the corner, and instead reminding himself to feather the heavier stock car through the turns. New Hampshire Motor Speedway marked a key milepost in the Gillett Evernham driver's transition from open wheels to NASCAR, showing that he's learning not only how to qualify for Sprint Cup races, but compete in them, as well.

“

... I asked [Harvick] on the stage, 'I just want to lead one lap. That's all I'm asking, then I'll let you by. I want to lead one lap.'

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PATRICK CARPENTIER

Thanks in part to a Friday rainstorm that cooled the racetrack for those with later qualifying draws, the 37-year-old from Montreal was a surprising pole winner for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 (watch video). No one would have been surprised had he dropped immediately to the back after the green flag. But he hung in the top 10 for more than 60 laps, leading four circuits around the 1-mile oval and showing flashes of the stock-car driver he may one day become. His ultimate finish was 31st, far from his best of the year. But he had been doomed to that by brake problems -- partially self-inflicted -- and held his own for as long as the car would allow.

"Every race, I see improvements," Carpentier said after the rain-shortened finish. "And I'm so happy [Sunday], because they usually go by me like nothing else. I thought they were going to go by me in a half a lap down the back-straight. But I held my own and stayed up front for a little bit and ran with these guys. At Richmond, I was down 20th place within five laps. Now we stayed up in fourth place and ran with them really fast, and I'm really happy. It's a step forward and starting to learn to race."

He even struck a deal with No. 2 starter Kevin Harvick on the stage during introductions, reminding the Richard Childress Racing driver that he didn't wreck him in their 1-2 finish in last year's Nationwide Series event in Montreal. "I'll be honest with you, I thought Harvick was going to go [past]," Carpentier said, "but I asked him on the stage, 'I just want to lead one lap. That's all I'm asking, then I'll let you by. I want to lead one lap.' He owed me from Montreal last year. I didn't take him out, so it's here that it paid off."

He didn't need much help, hanging with the leaders before a crowd that track officials estimated was up to 10 percent Canadian. He was guided by Barnwell and team director (GEM parlance for crew chief) Mike Shiplett, the two voices in his ear, who delivered equal portions strategy and advice. It was Barnwell who had advised Carpentier to try a certain line in practice for the Nationwide race, a discovery the driver credits with helping him later win the Sprint Cup pole. During Sunday's event, the recommendations came with regularity.

"Fall in behind [teammate] Kasey [Kahne] and follow him," Barnwell advised early in the race. And later: "You're looking at some really good cars in front of you now. Let's see if you can learn something from them that can help you later." It wasn't the first time Carpentier had tried to pick up tips from a fellow competitor while on the racetrack.

"At Dover, I picked up from Kasey and gained four-tenths [of a second] a lap following him," Carpentier said. "I didn't know why they were running the top, the top side of the track on what they call the ring. I saw him, and he was really tight. I thought it was when you were loose you move up, but it's when you're tight you move up. When you're loose, you kind of stay down a little bit. It's all learning. I started moving up, and we gained four-tenths a lap. It was good. Here, I could have been fast at the top, too, but I had no brakes. I had to lift halfway through the track. I was doing not even half the track wide open. It was still fast. They gave me a great car. It was fast through the corners, but I couldn't do anything with it."

The brakes were a constant headache Sunday. Carpentier was on them hard early in the race, so Shiplett and Barnwell reminded him again and again to "roll it through there," as the spotter would say. But finessing the brakes in the corner is easier said than done for a former IndyCar driver, who for years braked in corners at the last possible second. Carpentier realized it. "I'm having to use the brakes too hard. I'm destroying them," he radioed at one point. He lost his position near the front of the field when he was one of the first cars to pit in the opening green-flag sequence, and spent the rest of the race fighting to stay or get back on the lead lap.

"With the IndyCars, you're so used to entering it as fast as you can and just lifting in the last minute. With these things, you've got to baby it a little bit more," Carpentier said. "That's what they kept reminding me. It's a habit I used to have in the past. I'm trying to lose the habit and think stock car more. But it's been great. I'm very happy. I'm sad we lost the brakes. We could have got a lot of points. But it was still pretty good."

And it was something of a breakthrough for a driver still feeling his way around NASCAR's top level. "All we could do, buddy," Barnwell told Carpentier afterward. It all left the rookie wanting to learn more

"I'll tell you, I was sitting in the car and I was thinking, this is good. I like the life up front," he said with a smile. "It was going good, and I was enjoying it a lot. I had a great time this weekend. Just keep learning, just keep moving forward."