Newman's seventh place comes at right time for SHR (cont'd)

Teams beyond 35th in the 2009 owners' standings now have to qualify via their speeds beginning next weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Newman came into Bristol 32nd in the standings, but only 38 points clear of 35th. He's now 27th and a comfortable 119 points to the good.

The "Rocket Man" made no secret of his intentions Friday, when he qualified on the outside of the front row next to pole-winner Mark Martin. On the third lap of race, Newman passed Martin and led 25 laps.

A day in which he ran no lower than 12th at any of the 25-lap rundowns enabled Newman to make the five-position point jump, and gave his team some indecipherable, but unmistakable momentum heading to Martinsville, where both the teammates excel. In the last four spring races, Newman has a 12.9 average finish and Stewart a 10.5 average.

"This U.S. Army Chevrolet was good all day -- we ran in the top 10 for virtually the entire race," Newman said after Bristol. "The guys on pit road did a great job and [crew chief] Tony Gibson made good calls. And of course the Hendrick [engine] power was pretty good, too.

"Track position was huge and we were steady all day. We were strong off the truck on Friday and continued to make the car go faster and faster. We took advantage of what we had and that's exactly what we needed to do."

Gibson, who came from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to join Newman at Stewart-Haas in the offseason, echoed Newman's feelings.

"Sooner or later you know the luck is going to change, and when it turns around you need to be ready for it -- and [Sunday] we were," Gibson said. "We always had our heads up and nobody got down. Hopefully this is the spark we need to get rolling."

Although Stewart's finish, which placed him as the first car one lap down, paled compared to his teammate's, it also put the first-year team owner in an even stronger position in the standings. After having to perform as a go-or-go-home driver for five races, albeit a guaranteed starter thanks to his 2005 championship, Stewart goes to Martinsville seventh in the owners' standings.

"We got in position to get our lap back but never got the caution when we needed it," Stewart said of Sunday's race. "We missed it once with the 44 car [A.J. Allmendinger] getting back and once we got in position to get the [free pass], we never got the caution until the leaders got back to lapping people."