Ryan Newman takes Loudon NASCAR Sprint Cup pole

Newman was among the last drivers in the order after setting the third fastest time in morning practice, beaten only by Stewart and Richard Childress Racing's Clint Bowyer.

While many took a second qualifying lap to extract the most out of their cars, Newman's first flying lap was enough to beat the benchmark set by Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann. Stewart came close to his team-mate's lap immediately afterwards, while Bowyer, a two-time winner at the track, was unable to match their pace, ending up only 12th in the order.

Newman's laptime of 28.165 seconds at an average speed of 135.232 mph is a new record for the one-mile flat oval, while another 11 drivers were able to run under the previous mark set by Penske's Brad Keselowski last September. A new softer tyre specification selected by Goodyear for this weekend's event helped times tumble.

"It's been such a long drought for me to win a pole but I'm just really excited for this weekend," said Newman after claiming his fifth career pole at Loudon and his second of the week as he was also the fastest qualifier for a Modifieds event on Thursday.

"This has been a track that's been really good for me for firsts and I'm looking for that first win [of the season] again. It's extremely important here to start up front, it's a big track-position race, it's a relatively short race if you look at the mileage and the way the fuel stops work out. We've got a good start, we just need to have a good finish for the team.

"I want to get that victory on Sunday, that's what I'm thinking about."

Reutimann ended up third in the order while Penske's Kurt Busch was fourth fastest ahead of his team-mate Keselowski, who stood on provisional pole for a while. Bowyer's team-mate Jeff Burton, Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt Ganassi's Juan Pablo Montoya and RCR's Paul Menard rounded out a top 10 dominated by Chevrolet Impalas.

Points leader Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) qualified only 19th in the order, right behind RCR rival Kevin Harvick, while Roush Fenway's Greg Biffle was 20th on his first weekend with new crew chief Matt Puccia.

David Stremme was the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers in 29th while Scott Riggs, Tony Raines and Dennis Setzer failed to make the field for Sunday's event, which kicks off the second half of the Cup season.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time     Gap
 1.  Ryan Newman         Stewart Haas Chevrolet       28.165s
 2.  Tony Stewart        Stewart Haas Chevrolet       28.200s  + 0.035s
 3.  David Reutimann     Waltrip Toyota               28.263s  + 0.098s
 4.  Kurt Busch          Penske Dodge                 28.352s  + 0.187s
 5.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                 28.392s  + 0.227s
 6.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          28.398s  + 0.233s
 7.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           28.408s  + 0.243s
 8.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  28.469s  + 0.304s
 9.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          28.471s  + 0.306s
10.  Kasey Kahne         Red Bull Toyota              28.476s  + 0.311s
11.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet      28.484s  + 0.319s
12.  Clint Bowyer        Childress Chevrolet          28.510s  + 0.345s
13.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               28.541s  + 0.376s
14.  Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                 28.545s  + 0.380s
15.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            28.550s  + 0.385s
16.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                 28.560s  + 0.395s
17.  AJ Allmendinger     Petty Ford                   28.613s  + 0.448s
18.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          28.617s  + 0.452s
19.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                 28.632s  + 0.467s
20.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            28.639s  + 0.474s
21.  Brian Vickers       Red Bull Toyota              28.651s  + 0.486s
22.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   28.658s  + 0.493s
23.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota         28.671s  + 0.506s
24.  Mark Martin         Hendrick Chevrolet           28.697s  + 0.532s
25.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  28.702s  + 0.537s
26.  David Ragan         Roush Fenway Ford            28.710s  + 0.545s
27.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           28.739s  + 0.574s
28.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           28.767s  + 0.602s
29.  David Stremme       Inception Chevrolet          28.804s  + 0.639s
30.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford            28.826s  + 0.661s
31.  Casey Mears         Germain Toyota               28.827s  + 0.662s
32.  Landon Cassill      Phoenix Chevrolet            28.879s  + 0.714s
33.  Michael McDowell    HP Toyota                    28.985s  + 0.820s
34.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               28.986s  + 0.821s
35.  Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                 29.007s  + 0.842s
36.  Jeff Green          Front Row Ford               29.036s  + 0.871s
37.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            29.080s  + 0.915s
38.  JJ Yeley            Front Row Ford               29.086s  + 0.921s
39.  Mike Skinner        Germain Toyota               29.128s  + 0.963s
40.  Erik Darnell        Whitney Chevrolet            29.257s  + 1.092s
41.  Mike Bliss          FAS Lane Ford                29.303s  + 1.138s
42.  Scott Wimmer        Gordon Dodge                 29.694s  + 1.529s
43.  Andy Lally          TRG Chevrolet                29.318s  + 1.153s

Did not qualify:

     Tony Raines         Front Row Ford               29.368s  + 1.203s
     Scott Riggs         Whitney Chevrolet            29.499s  + 1.334s
     Dennis Setzer       K-Automotive Chevrolet       29.521s  + 1.356s