Newman turned a lap in 28.651 seconds (188.475 mph) Thursday to earn the top starting spot for the 600-miler, NASCAR’s longest race. Kyle Busch (188.258 mph) made a concerted attempt to unseat Newman, who gave Stewart-Haas its first Sprint Cup pole, but fell just short after a slight mistake getting into Turn 3. NASCAR.com
“It was a good lap,” Newman said. “(Crew chief) Tony Gibson did a great job with the car. We started (practice) in race trim and then put it in qualifying trim and made it better. We’re really looking forward to the rest of the weekend. It’s nice after doing this to have a day off.”
Newman moved ahead of Jeff Gordon for second most poles at Lowe’s with eight. David Pearson hold the pole record here with 14. Kansas City Star
Points leader Jeff Gordon qualified third, followed by Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson.
J.J. Yeley, filling in for suspended driver Jeremy Mayfield, failed to qualify for the race. The Associated Press
POS CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 2 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 3 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 4 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 5 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 6 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 7 9 Mike Bliss Dodge 8 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 9 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 10 21 Bill Elliott Ford 11 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota 12 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 13 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 14 20 Joey Logano* Toyota 15 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 16 16 Greg Biffle Ford 17 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 18 82 Scott Speed* Toyota 19 99 Carl Edwards Ford 20 96 Bobby Labonte Ford 21 0 David Reutimann Toyota 22 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 23 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 24 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 25 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 26 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 27 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 28 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 29 171 David Gilliland Chevrolet 30 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 31 98 Paul Menard Ford 32 113 Max Papis* Toyota 33 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 34 6 David Ragan Ford 35 12 David Stremme Dodge 36 7 Casey Mears Chevrolet 37 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 38 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 39 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 40 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 41 34 Tony Raines+ Chevrolet 42 43 Reed Sorenson+ Dodge 43 36 Scott Riggs Toyota
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