Ryan Newman has now won six NASCAR Cup poles at Lowe's Motor Speedway, seven overall.
CONCORD, N.C. (May 24, 2007) - Ryan Newman grabbed his 39th career Cup pole Thursday in qualifying for this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, while teammate Kurt Busch was close on his bumper to give Penske Racing a sweep of the front row for the Memorial Day weekend classic.
Newman pushed his Alltel Dodge Charger to a lap of 185.312 mph, 29.140 seconds, to earn his second pole of the season and his sixth Bud Pole Award at the 1.5-mile track. Overall, it was Newman's seventh pole at the facility that opened in 1960, having also claimed the No. 1 starting position for an October 2001 ARCA race.
Busch was only 0.039 second behind Newman, recording a 185.065-mph, 29.179-second lap in his Miller Lite Dodge Charger. That gave Busch his second top-10 start in 14 races at LMS.
It's the first time there has been an all-Penske front row for a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race since October 2004 at Martinsville when Newman started on the pole and Rusty Wallace was on the outside of the front row.
Thursday night both Newman and Busch enjoyed the benefit of a late qualifying draw. Among the 49 drivers who made a two-lap timed run, Newman went out 33rd and Busch took to the track 48th.
"I didn't think we had secured the pole when we qualified, but it was a good run for the Alltel Dodge," Newman said after recording his 11th top-10 start - all fourth or better -- in 13 Cup races at LMS. "The guys have done a good job the past four or five weeks. We've got great Penske-Jasper engine horsepower.
"We didn't do a qualifying run in practice, and I think that hurt us a little confidence-wise, but in watching guys struggle here in qualifying the past two weeks I think having too much confidence hurts you more than having too little."
Newman noted that first-year crew chief Michael Nelson was doing a "great job" in leading the team. Nelson had been Newman's team engineer since the Indiana native joined Penske in 2000.
"He's done a great job building it or rebuilding it however you'd like to write that, but he is definitely a big part of what we're doing and I look forward to working with him and Kurt Busch as well," said Newman, whose only other top-10 start this season has been the pole at the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. "We're working good together. I don't think we're hitting our stride. I think we're performing well. We haven't been to victory lane in some time and that would be nice. I'd say if that happens we're just pulling our sweat pants off.
"I think we've been performing well the last three, four or five weeks, but I think we haven't had the greatest finishes the four or five weeks before that. I think we've been running good and performing well. We just haven't had the finishes with the exception of the last three or four weeks that we felt we deserved. It was just circumstances. We had some crazy things that happened to us like everybody does. We had a great car at Talladega. Got involved in that accident and knocked off the fender and came back to finish ninth. To be able to rebound and capitalize points-wise is something we hadn't been able to do in previous weeks."
Busch also noted it was good to see the teams' hard work starting to pay dividends.
"We've definitely had our nose buried in the books trying to bring up more ideas," Busch continued. "It feels good that the two of us communicate and keep that open line going. Having him go earlier than us and having him tell us exactly what his car did, it was great to have that confidence. Going out later, I thought we had a great shot at the pole. We're on the front row and that's just as good, and it's good to have that communication."
Sunday's race will be Newman's 200th Cup start and, ironically, comes at the track where he won his first-ever Cup pole in May 2001. By claiming the pole, Newman led a Dodge contingent that swept the first three starting positions. Elliott Sadler will start third.
In his post-qualifying interview, Busch admitted he and his Miller Lite team were excited about their late draw, because they knew it would give them the opportunity to make a run for the pole.
"Sitting up on the trailer, watching other drivers struggling with the hot temperatures and watching the sun come in, and heading out there when it was nice and cool definitely takes a little weight off your shoulders," Busch said. "You feel like the car is going to be more underneath you and you can be more confident with the car. With the speed we ran last week, I thought we had a good shot at it.
"It was good to see the Penske cars 1-2. This is a big achievement and we're proud of doing that, no matter what the order. If Newman is on the pole or if we're on the pole, it just feels good we're both on the front row. It gives us both a great starting spot, obviously, and great pit selections. We know we're going to be in the pits because of the hard tire whether we do two tires, four tires, none, gas only, you name it. This is a great start to our weekend and we're happy to qualify second."
With Newman's accomplishment, Penske now possesses the top starting position for the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, both scheduled for Sunday. Penske is seeking its 15th Indy 500 victory, but its first win in NASCAR's longest race.
"It's our objective and our goal each and every time we go to the race track, not just Charlotte, to bring success to Penske Racing," Busch said. "For him to be able to do the double in one day, win both races [Charlotte and Indy], that would be an outstanding achievement. I had a glimmer of hope earlier this year that if he won in Motegi and he flew back to Phoenix in time for our Cup race. How many other car owners have the opportunity to race halfway around the world in one day and have a shot in victory lane? The guy is incredible. It's a pleasure to work for him and long term I hope to bring the championship to Roger Penske and to do it in NASCAR."
Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 will air live on FOX and PRN radio beginning at 5:30 p.m. EDT.