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Ryan Newman put the No. 39 US Army Impala SS on the pole for the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. It is the third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole for Newman at the Virginia track, his second of the season and 45th of his career.
Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont/National Guard Impala SS, turned in the second quickest time to make it an all-Chevy front row for the 500-lap/263-lap race.
Newman downplayed Johnson’s poor showing, saying he noticed the three-time defending series champion spent very little time in practice working on his setup for the two-lap run.
In all, only four of the 12 participants in the Chase for the championship qualified ahead of Johnson. Most chose to focus on their racing setup with prospects for additional practice sketchy. Heavy rain fell early at the speedway, and more is forecast for Saturday.
The results, still, were a source of hope for Johnson’s Hendrick teammates and closest pursuers, especially Gordon, with only five races left to close a 90-point gap. The Associated Press
“It was a really good lap,” Newman said. “It kind of helped to go out a little bit later to see Mark [Martin] and Jeff and see where there might have some gains to be made.
NASCAR Sprint Cup: Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville - Race Line-Up
We had the best of everything to start,” Newman said. “We unloaded pretty good and got our two qualifying runs in. I had a heck of a lap there. I felt like I got everything, and that’s what it took.”
“This is the kind of qualifying session that we were certainly hoping for, so nice to see things going our way so far this weekend,” Gordon said.
Martin Truex Jr. qualified third, while Mark Martin and David Reutimann rounded out the top-five.
Casey Mears, rookie Joey Logano, Bobby Labonte, Reed Sorenson and Kevin Harvick qualified sixth through 10th, respectively. MiamiHerald.com
