Newman claims pole at Dover
Ryan Newman was able to claim pole position for the Neighborhood Excellence 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Dover International Speedway, after the rain cleared enough for the final few cars to qualify
At one stage it had looked like the shower that set in after 40 of the 47 entrants had qualified would force the abandonment of the session.
Had that happened, the starting order would have been set by owner points, which would have put series leader Jimmie Johnson on pole even though he spun on his actual qualifying lap.
The initial plan was for the remaining cars to try and qualify following the scheduled Craftsman Truck race if time and daylight permitted, but with the track drying quicker than anticipated, NASCAR elected to delay the support race a little further and complete the Cup qualifying session as soon as the track was usable.
Newman's pole was therefore confirmed over an hour later than expected.
"That's a good run, for sure," said Newman. "We finally got to work on qualifying a little bit here in practice instead of working all on race trim."
Jeremy Mayfield, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch were Newman's closest challengers, while Johnson will have to start last after all. However, he was simply relieved to have collected the spin without damaging his car.
"I knew I'd lost it and I was trying to keep it uphill, up towards the outside wall, and from there I got lucky and kept this racecar," Johnson said.
"I'm shocked. My guys are happy, it's like we won the pole."
Ricky Rudd qualified injured reigning champion Tony Stewart's car in 10th position.
Starting order:
Pos Driver Make Speed Time 1. Ryan Newman Dodge 154.633 23.281 2. Jeremy Mayfield Dodge 154.361 23.322 + 0.041 3. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 154.063 23.367 + 0.086 4. Kurt Busch Dodge 153.774 23.411 + 0.130 5. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 153.662 23.428 + 0.147 6. Mark Martin Ford 153.531 23.448 + 0.167 7. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 153.466 23.458 + 0.177 8. Elliott Sadler Ford 153.302 23.483 + 0.202 9. Jamie McMurray Ford 153.146 23.507 + 0.226 10. Ricky Rudd Chevrolet 152.931 23.540 + 0.259 11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 152.847 23.553 + 0.272 12. Jeff Green Chevrolet 152.769 23.565 + 0.284 13. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 152.769 23.565 + 0.284 14. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 152.626 23.587 + 0.306 15. Scott Riggs Dodge 152.588 23.593 + 0.312 16. Hermie Sadler Chevrolet 152.588 23.593 + 0.312 17. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 152.581 23.594 + 0.313 18. Kevin Lepage Dodge 152.542 23.600 + 0.319 19. Matt Kenseth Ford 152.478 23.610 + 0.329 20. Greg Biffle Ford 152.342 23.631 + 0.350 21. Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 152.336 23.632 + 0.351 22. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 152.329 23.633 + 0.352 23. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 152.220 23.650 + 0.369 24. Brian Vickers Chevrolet 152.123 23.665 + 0.384 25. Carl Edwards Ford 151.841 23.709 + 0.428 26. Kasey Kahne Dodge 151.803 23.715 + 0.434 27. Travis Kvapil Chevrolet 151.260 23.800 + 0.519 28. Bobby Labonte Dodge 151.235 23.804 + 0.523 29. David Stremme Dodge 151.197 23.810 + 0.529 30. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 151.045 23.834 + 0.553 31. Dave Blaney Dodge 150.975 23.845 + 0.564 32. Tony Raines Chevrolet 150.918 23.854 + 0.573 33. Michael Waltrip Dodge 150.710 23.887 + 0.606 34. Casey Mears Dodge 150.640 23.898 + 0.617 35. Kyle Petty Dodge 150.552 23.912 + 0.631 36. Derrike Cope Dodge 150.546 23.913 + 0.632 37. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 150.533 23.915 + 0.634 38. Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 150.483 23.923 + 0.642 39. Ken Schrader Ford 150.432 23.931 + 0.650 40. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 150.332 23.947 + 0.666 41. Reed Sorenson Dodge 150.275 23.956 + 0.675 42. Dale Jarrett Ford 150.175 23.972 + 0.691 43. Robby Gordon Chevrolet 149.514 24.078 + 0.797 44. Carl Long Chevrolet 148.454 24.250 + 0.969 45. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 146.484 24.576 + 1.295
Share Or Save This Story
Hamilton accepts blame for incident with Albon in F1 Brazilian GP
Ferrari drivers called to F1 stewards over Brazilian GP collision
Will Alonso's Indy failure end the age of versatility?
Why Marquez can only "survive" in Spanish GP despite return to full fitness
What Apple TV’s F1® coverage delivers for fans in the U.S.
What other tracks should return to the F1 calendar? Our writers have their say
What's behind McLaren's fresh A-B F1 team angst?
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments