(By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service)
Posted: Saturday,August 27th, 2011
BRISTOL, Tenn.—Ryan Newman is no psychologist, but he’s going to try to buoy Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Tony Stewart’s fortunes after Newman won the pole for Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race—and Stewart was the slowest of 46 drivers during Friday’s time trials at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“It wasn’t a good day for the 14 (Stewart)—you saw that in qualifying,” said Newman, who sped around .533-mile oval, billed as the world’s fastest half mile, at 122.811 mph (15.624 seconds) to win his second Coors Light pole award of the season and the 48th of his career, 10th on the Sprint Cup all-time list.
Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 Bass Pro Shops/Realtree Outfitters Chevrolet, looks on during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 26, 2011 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
“I think it’s one of those deals where you spend time overnight regrouping,” Newman said. “I felt our car was pretty good in race trim. Obviously, it worked good in qualifying trim. You don’t ever want to see the cars that far apart, whether it’s the setups or results because of a setup change.
“I’m happy that we’ve given the 14 the opportunity to look at our notes. We always share information—there’s no question about that.”
Newman edged Roush Fenway Racing drivers Carl Edwards (122.670 mph) and Matt Kenseth (122.662 mph) for the top starting spot in Saturday night’s race, the 24th event on the Cup schedule. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon (122.576 mph) and Mark Martin (122. 544 mph) will start from positions four and five, respectively.
After posting a fast lap of 116.397 mph, Stewart will start 42nd Saturday. Mike Skinner, 41st in time trials and the slowest of the non-exempt qualifiers, will start 43rd.
Stewart, winless this season, is fighting to keep the 10th position in the Sprint Cup standings, and with three races left before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field is set Sept. 10 at Richmond, starting at the back of the pack won’t help.
Edwards didn’t feel he left much—if anything—on the table.
“Ryan did a good job, and we did everything right today,” Edwards said. “I probably could have done a little better job coming to the green. To come off Turn 4 that last time, coming to the white (to complete the first of two laps), I was a little bit loose and I left my foot in it and almost hit the fence. I figured that was enough. Second place will be a good starting spot. Hopefully we can get a victory.”
Series points leader Kyle Busch, who has won four of the past five Cup races at Bristol, qualified 23rd. J.J. Yeley, T.J. Bell and Jeff Green failed to qualify for the 43-car field.
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