Qualifying: Newman takes pole

Newman, 45th among 48 to challenge the clock, knocked season short-track master Jeff Gordon off the perch, with Gordon recording a 20.420s (92.733mph). Bill Elliott was third, Ward Burton fourth (his best since Richmond in May), and Rusty Wallace fifth.

The flat, 0.526-mile oval has a further peculiarity, in that its straights are asphalt and the insides of its tight-radius corners are concrete. The concrete was laid down in the 1970s to address problems with the pavement.

This year, track officials took machinery to the concrete, grinding it to smooth bumps. The grinding job left symmetrical grooves in the pavement, much as you might see on a road project where older concrete is ground to accept an asphalt overlay.

Problem was, few if any of the teams and competitors knew of the work until the testing here two weeks ago. Immediate concerns were of lack of grip, especially forward bite off the corners. This is expected to make tyre wear much more severe in Sunday's race.

Newman's pole time was about 0.3sec behind Gordon's pole run here in April and was the slowest since Ernie Irvan puttered to a 20.453s here in 1993. Naturally, that seems to concern the veterans more so than it does the younger drivers.