Newman on Martinsville pole
Ryan Newman claimed pole position for Sunday's Sprint Cup series race at Martinsville Speedway
The Stewart Haas Racing driver, who currently ranks eighth in the Chase standings, beat Jeff Gordon's benchmark with a lap of 19.563 seconds at an average speed of 96.795 mph, claiming his second pole position of the season.
The session went ahead on schedule despite some rain in the morning, which forced a delay in practice. More rain is expected for Saturday and some teams worked already in preparation for race day, as it looks possible that both of Saturday's sessions could end up being washed out.
"It has been a pleasure to drive all day," said Newman after scoring his 45th Sprint Cup series career pole. "I'm kind of looking forward to practice tomorrow getting rained out. We'll see. I think it was a really good lap, it felt really nice. I tried to get too much out of my second lap and got loose out of (turn) four."
Gordon, a seven-time winner at Martinsville, got beaten to pole position by 0.056 seconds. Before his run, it had been his Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Mark Martin who held provisional pole after being fastest in practice, but the veteran ended up fourth, beaten by Martin Truex Jr also.
David Reutimann was fifth and the fastest Toyota qualifier ahead of Casey Mears, while rookie Joey Logano impressed with seventh fastest as Chase contenders ended up spread throughout the order, many of them in the lower half of the leaderboard.
Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson had a less than perfect run to 15th fastest, ending up way behind his main contenders for the championship and the lowest qualifier among the Hendrick Motorsports drivers.
Juan Pablo Montoya had been second fastest in practice and looked a likely contender for pole but ended up only 21st. It was also a disappointing session for other title contenders such as Kurt Busch, who ended up 37th in the starting order for Sunday's race.
Scott Speed was the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers in 18th, while Josh Wise was the only driver who failed to get a place in the field.
Pos Driver Make Speed Time 1. Ryan Newman Chevrolet 96.795 19.563 2. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 96.519 19.619 + 0.056 3. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 96.509 19.621 + 0.058 4. Mark Martin Chevrolet 96.504 19.622 + 0.059 5. David Reutimann Toyota 96.117 19.701 + 0.138 6. Casey Mears Chevrolet 96.054 19.714 + 0.151 7. Joey Logano Toyota 96.034 19.718 + 0.155 8. Bobby Labonte Ford 96.010 19.723 + 0.160 9. Reed Sorenson Dodge 95.995 19.726 + 0.163 10. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 95.908 19.744 + 0.181 11. David Stremme Dodge 95.903 19.745 + 0.182 12. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 95.830 19.760 + 0.197 13. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 95.825 19.761 + 0.198 14. David Ragan Ford 95.815 19.763 + 0.200 15. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 95.777 19.771 + 0.208 16. A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 95.772 19.772 + 0.209 17. Denny Hamlin Toyota 95.762 19.774 + 0.211 18. Scott Speed Toyota 95.607 19.806 + 0.243 19. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 95.578 19.812 + 0.249 20. Greg Biffle Ford 95.574 19.813 + 0.250 21. Juan Montoya Chevrolet 95.545 19.819 + 0.256 22. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 95.501 19.828 + 0.265 23. Jamie McMurray Ford 95.477 19.833 + 0.270 24. Brian Vickers Toyota 95.429 19.843 + 0.280 25. Travis Kvapil Dodge 95.381 19.853 + 0.290 26. Kasey Kahne Dodge 95.371 19.855 + 0.292 27. John Andretti Chevrolet 95.333 19.863 + 0.300 28. Joe Nemechek Toyota 95.304 19.869 + 0.306 29. Carl Edwards Ford 95.275 19.875 + 0.312 30. Paul Menard Ford 95.271 19.876 + 0.313 31. Sam Hornish Jr Dodge 95.242 19.882 + 0.319 32. Matt Kenseth Ford 95.232 19.884 + 0.321 33. Robby Gordon Toyota 95.223 19.886 + 0.323 34. Marcos Ambrose Toyota 95.194 19.892 + 0.329 35. David Gilliland Chevrolet 95.070 19.918 + 0.355 36. Michael Waltrip Toyota 94.984 19.936 + 0.373 37. Kurt Busch Dodge 94.889 19.956 + 0.393 38. Sterling Marlin Dodge 94.789 19.977 + 0.414 39. Dave Blaney Toyota 94.689 19.998 + 0.435 40. Elliott Sadler Dodge 94.661 20.004 + 0.441 41. Kyle Busch Toyota 94.652 20.006 + 0.443 42. Michael McDowell Toyota 94.637 20.009 + 0.446 43. Derrike Cope Toyota 93.539 20.244 + 0.681
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