Newman scores Atlanta pole

Newman's lap of 193.575mph in 28.64 seconds was the first time set during the day but at the end of the qualifying session, he was still at the top of the timesheets. Second-placed Brian Vickers was more than a mile-an-hour off Newman's mark.

Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Elliott Sadler will line up behind Newman and Vickers on the grid for Sunday's race.

Newman, who also won the pole at Rockingham, has won 20 poles in just three seasons. He, and many others in the garage, are more concerned about the race. Las Vegas was the first real test of NASCAR's new downforce rules and of Goodyear's new softer tyres, and some teams, such as Roush's Fords and Ray Evernham's Dodges, seemed to get it right quickly, and others, such as Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr, were way off.

"The true test will be in the race wen the tyres fall off and the track gets a little greasier," said Newman. "There's a different tyre here than the one we had in Vegas, and the one we had at Vegas was different than the one we had there last year.

"We missed the boat pretty big, and when we got two laps down that was pretty much the end of the day. We never did make up a lap so we could benefit from the lucky dog rule. Our car was OK for about five laps, and then it seemed like someone threw it in reverse.

"We just missed it. That was basically it. It was a combination of everything, no one specific thing."

Qualifying likewise seems to have little to do with how Matt Kenseth races. Kenseth, defending NASCAR champion and winner of the past two races, was 30th on Friday, 1.2sec off Newman's pace.