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28th
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Ryan Newman isn't dwelling on his lame duck status at Stewart Haas Racing. If fact he provided some extra drama knocking five time Sprint Cup Champion, Jimmie Johnson off the provisional pole for Sunday's 20th running of the Brickyard 400.
“No hard feelings,” Newman said of Kevin Harvick taking his ride. “They made a move, and that move makes me move, and there's no hard feelings. I don't know what I'm going to do. Obviously this is a good step in publicity for me on the positive side, so we'll see what we can do tomorrow.
"Today is over, and we've got to focus on getting our Chevrolet fast for tomorrow and still making the Chase.
Newman won the pole, his 50th in Sprint Cup, at 187.531 mph as the last of 45 cars to make a qualifying run. He broke the previous record of 186.293 mph set by Casey Mears in 2004. Sprint Cup Series points leader, Johnson, was second fastest after being overtaken by Newman. Carl Edwards was third, Denny Hamlin fourth and Tony Stewart fifth.
"I guess I did my homework but the guys on this team did their homework, too. It's a good day for Stewart-Haas Racing," said Newman, who had not won a pole since September, 2011. "It was special because it was the Brickyard and I've won a lot of poles but never won one, here."
Johnson had a feeling that his lap would not hold up as the eventual polesitter. “For today's qualifying session, knowing Ryan was going last, and Ryan is so good at qualifying, that I knew he was going to be a bullet, a tough bullet to dodge. And when the 14 (Tony Stewart) posted his lap time, I'm like, okay, this is going to be a tough final car to deal with.”
Edwards, looking for his first Cup Championship admitted “this track has been very difficult for us as a group. I don't know that we've ever had a real dominant car here at a Roush-Fenway. I think Greg has run well here once or twice. I've led a couple of laps, but it seems that there maybe were one or two little things that were missing.
"We've brought the best that we can bring, and hopefully this will be our year to win it.”
“No hard feelings,” Newman said of Kevin Harvick taking his ride. “They made a move, and that move makes me move, and there's no hard feelings. I don't know what I'm going to do. Obviously this is a good step in publicity for me on the positive side, so we'll see what we can do tomorrow.
"Today is over, and we've got to focus on getting our Chevrolet fast for tomorrow and still making the Chase.
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| Ryan Newman (Photo: ryannewman.org) |
Newman won the pole, his 50th in Sprint Cup, at 187.531 mph as the last of 45 cars to make a qualifying run. He broke the previous record of 186.293 mph set by Casey Mears in 2004. Sprint Cup Series points leader, Johnson, was second fastest after being overtaken by Newman. Carl Edwards was third, Denny Hamlin fourth and Tony Stewart fifth.
"I guess I did my homework but the guys on this team did their homework, too. It's a good day for Stewart-Haas Racing," said Newman, who had not won a pole since September, 2011. "It was special because it was the Brickyard and I've won a lot of poles but never won one, here."
Johnson had a feeling that his lap would not hold up as the eventual polesitter. “For today's qualifying session, knowing Ryan was going last, and Ryan is so good at qualifying, that I knew he was going to be a bullet, a tough bullet to dodge. And when the 14 (Tony Stewart) posted his lap time, I'm like, okay, this is going to be a tough final car to deal with.”
Edwards, looking for his first Cup Championship admitted “this track has been very difficult for us as a group. I don't know that we've ever had a real dominant car here at a Roush-Fenway. I think Greg has run well here once or twice. I've led a couple of laps, but it seems that there maybe were one or two little things that were missing.
"We've brought the best that we can bring, and hopefully this will be our year to win it.”