Rain gives Stewart Pocono Cup pole

Stewart took over from Jeff Gordon at the head of the championship last week at Dover, also promoting his #14 car to the top of the owners' rankings at the same time, which determines the starting line-up for the top 35 spots when qualifying is cancelled, according to NASCAR rules.

His pole is the second for his newly-formed Stewart Haas Racing team as Ryan Newman had already won the team's maiden pole at Lowe's Motor Speedway two weeks ago, following Stewart's win in the All-Star race.

"Obviously everybody is disapointed that we didn't get on the racetrack today but it worked out well for us and Jeff [Gordon]," said Stewart.

Gordon will share the front row with Stewart, while Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch will start from the second row of the grid. Ryan Newman, a former race winner at Pocono like all those preceding him in the order, will start from fifth place beside Kyle Busch.

Two-time Pocono winner Denny Hamlin will see the green flag wave from seventh place on the grid, while last year's winners at Pocono Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne will start from 11th and 15th respectively.

Among the non-guaranteed drivers making the field and returning to the Sprint Cup Series this weekend is Canadian Patrick Carpentier, who will start the race from 40th on the grid, thanks to the number of qualifying attempts made by Tommy Balwdwin's team this season.

Derrike Cope, Mike Wallace and Tony Raines did not even get a chance to complete a lap all day long at Pocono and unfortunately they will have to head back home without a chance to try to make the field.

On Saturday Sprint Cup teams should be able to get complete two practice sessions, as there are no predictions of rain. However, there is a 30 per cent chance of occasional showers for Sunday.

                    
Pos  Driver              Car
 1.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet
 2.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet
 3.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet
 4.  Kurt Busch          Dodge
 5.  Ryan Newman         Chevrolet
 6.  Kyle Busch          Toyota
 7.  Denny Hamlin        Toyota
 8.  Matt Kenseth        Ford
 9.  Greg Biffle         Ford
10.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet
11.  Carl Edwards        Ford
12.  Mark Martin         Chevrolet
13.  David Reutimann     Toyota
14.  Kasey Kahne         Dodge
15.  Juan Montoya        Chevrolet
16.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet
17.  Brian Vickers       Toyota
18.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet
19.  Martin Truex Jr     Chevrolet
20.  Marcos Ambrose      Toyota
21.  Casey Mears         Chevrolet
22.  Jamie McMurray      Ford
23.  Joey Logano         Toyota
24.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet
25.  Reed Sorenson       Dodge
26.  Sam Hornish Jr      Dodge
27.  Elliott Sadler      Dodge
28.  Bobby Labonte       Ford
29.  David Stremme       Dodge
30.  AJ Allmendinger     Dodge
31.  David Ragan         Ford
32.  Michael Waltrip     Toyota
33.  Paul Menard         Ford
34.  Robby Gordon        Toyota
35.  John Andretti       Chevrolet
36.  Sterling Marlin     Dodge
37.  Scott Speed         Toyota
38.  David Gilliland     Chevrolet
39.  Joe Nemechek        Toyota
40.  Patrick Carpentier  Toyota
41.  Dave Blaney         Toyota
42.  Regan Smith         Chevrolet
43.  Dexter Bean         Dodge

Did not qualify:

     Derrike Cope        Dodge
     Mike Wallace        Toyota
     Tony Raines         Chevrolet