Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch gave Penske Racing a grip on the front row for the Coca-Cola 600. Now they hope to end Penske’s drought at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Newman won his 39th career pole Thursday with a lap at 185.312 mph. Busch, showing no ill effects after getting tangled up with brother Kyle in a wreck during last weekend’s All-Star race, qualified second at 185.065.
Roger Penske has won 14 Indianapolis 500s as a car owner, and Penske driver Helio Castroneves will be on the pole Sunday. But Penske has never won a race at Charlotte.
Penske was eating dinner in Indianapolis when he got a phone call telling him his drivers will be on the pole for both of Sunday’s races.
“We’ve never done that before. Now we need to win both races,” Penske said. “We’ve come close but never done it.”
Newman acknowledges there’s pressure to put Penske in Victory Lane.
“He’s only been trying here for like 20 years, so yeah it would be special,” said Newman, who will make his 200th career start Sunday. “It’s been something that weighs on the drivers and the teams.”
Elliott Sadler qualified third, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth.
More at readingeagle.com/AP
Pos, #, Driver, Sponsor, Car
1 12 Ryan Newman Alltel Dodge
2 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge
3 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge
4 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Chevrolet
5 17 Matt Kenseth R&L Carriers Ford
6 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Chevrolet
7 88 Ricky Rudd Snickers Ford
8 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Toyota
9 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios Dodge
10 40 David Stremme Coors Light Dodge
11 01 Mark Martin U.S. Army Chevrolet
12 18 J.J. Yeley Interstate Batteries Chevrolet
13 6 David Ragan AAA Ford
14 20 Tony Stewart The Home Depot Chevrolet
15 10 Scott Riggs Valvoline Dodge
16 25 Casey Mears National Guard Chevrolet
17 5 Kyle Busch Kellogg’s Chevrolet
18 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge
19 38 David Gilliland M&M’s Ford
20 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Texaco/Havoline Dodge
21 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet
22 21 Bill Elliott U.S. Air Force Ford
23 44 Dale Jarrett UPS Toyota
24 36 Jeremy Mayfield 360 OTC Toyota
25 31 Jeff Burton AT&T Chevrolet
26 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota
27 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet
28 26 Jamie McMurray Irwin Industrial Tools Ford
29 84 AJ Allmendinger Red Bull Toyota
30 14 Sterling Marlin Ginn Resorts Chevrolet
31 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
32 24 Jeff Gordon Dupont Chevrolet
33 13 Joe Nemechek Haier Chevrolet
34 41 Reed Sorenson Target Dodge
35 7 Robby Gordon Jim Beam Black Ford
36 45 Kyle Petty Coke Zero Dodge
37 96 Tony Raines DLP HDTV Chevrolet
38 16 Greg Biffle Dish Network Ford
39 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford
40 70 Johnny Sauter Radio Active Energy Drink Chevrolet
41 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet
42 66 Jeff Green Best Buy Chevrolet
43 78 Kenny Wallace Furniture Row Chevrolet
Bookmark to:
- Video: Casey Mears wins his first Nextel Cup race, the 2007 Coca Cola 600
- He keeps rollin’: Kyle Busch wins pole for Coca Cola 600
- Coca-Cola 600 likely to keep name
- Coke Zero to sponsor Petty in Nextel Open/Coke 600
- Nintendo’s Wii to sponsor No 40 in Coca-Cola 600
Way to go Newman!
Im glad to see him try and turn the season around!
-chris
Yes ma’am Jr’s starting fourth, sweeeeet. Stupid nascar.com doesn’t
like to load on dial-up so I can never check the lineup.
Yeah nascar has to much crap even for my cable internet at times.. and my cable is really fast.. I liked the old nascar site, atleast you could find things on that one..
-Chris
More importantly than Newman’s pole is Junior’s starting 4th
Is this his like first top 5 starting spot this year lol or top 10 even… Doesn’t matter, he makes his way to the front.
Good luck Junior