Newman wins second consecutive Loudon pole

Newman won the first race in Loudon from pole, can he also win the 2nd from pole?

Rain or no rain — it didn't matter to Ryan Newman, who won the pole for Sunday's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the second race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

After a rain delay halted Friday's qualifying session, Newman, the last driver to make an attempt, posted a lap at 135.002 mph (28.213 seconds) to knock Kasey Kahne (134.763 mph), who had preceded him on the track, out of the top spot.

The pole was Newman's third of the season and the 49th of his career. The driver of the No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet won the July race at New Hampshire from the pole.

As the fastest driver in Friday's practice, Newman would have started from the top spot whether or not rain had washed out the session. Had he started first based on practice speed, however, he wouldn't have gotten credit for a pole.

Kahne's Red Bull Racing teammate, Brian Vickers, qualified before the rain delay, and his speed of 134.648 mph stood up for the third starting position. Greg Biffle (134.587 mph) will start fourth. Kurt Busch qualified fifth at 134.382 mph.

Newman made his pole-winning run on his only lap and then shut the car down, whereas many drivers had improved their speeds on a second of two laps.

"It took a little bit more [time] for my tires to fire up, as far as stick[ing], and that kind of scared me a little bit, but I ran the first lap just as I expected to, as I did in practice, and it was enough to win the pole," said Newman, who paced qualifying for the sixth time at the Magic Mile.

"Our car was typically quicker on the first lap and not the second in practice. I was glad I got him on the first lap, and [crew chief Tony] Gibson said, 'Shut her down,' and that was a good sign for me."

Lineup

POS CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR SPEED TIME BEHIND
1 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Haas Automation 135.002 28.213 Leader
2 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota Red Bull 134.763 28.263 -0.050
3 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 134.648 28.287 -0.074
4 16 Greg Biffle Ford Ford40MPG.com 134.587 28.300 -0.087
5 22 Kurt Busch Dodge Shell / Pennzoil 134.382 28.343 -0.130
6 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Budweiser 134.354 28.349 -0.136
7 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 134.160 28.390 -0.177
8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M's 134.146 28.393 -0.180
9 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 134.146 28.393 -0.180
10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 134.075 28.408 -0.195
11 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper 134.056 28.412 -0.199
12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Diet Mountain Dew / National Guard 133.981 28.428 -0.215
13 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford Best Buy 133.820 28.462 -0.249
14 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet Sylvania / Menards 133.816 28.463 -0.250
15 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota Bush's Best Baked Beans / Kingsford 133.792 28.468 -0.255
16 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge Miller Lite 133.769 28.473 -0.260
17 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies 133.755 28.476 -0.263
18 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 133.595 28.510 -0.297
19 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 133.572 28.515 -0.302
20 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Mobil 1 / Office Depot 133.445 28.542 -0.329
21 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 133.357 28.561 -0.348
22 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet Golden Corral / Richie Evans NASCAR Hall of Fame 133.245 28.585 -0.372
23 99 Carl Edwards Ford Scotts WinterGuard Fertilizer 133.203 28.594 -0.381
24 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 133.114 28.613 -0.400
25 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Axe Cool Metal 132.905 28.658 -0.445
26 6 David Ragan Ford UPS "We Love Logistics" 132.896 28.660 -0.447
27 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Affliction Clothing: Live Fast 132.665 28.710 -0.497
28 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Ground 132.591 28.726 -0.513
29 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford Dewalt 132.572 28.730 -0.517
30 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet Thank A Teacher Today / Security Benefit 132.429 28.761 -0.548
31 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Degree Men 132.232 28.804 -0.591
32 38 J.J. Yeley Ford Long John Silver's 132.213 28.808 -0.595
33 34 David Gilliland Ford Front Row Motorsports 132.048 28.844 -0.631
34 30 David Stremme Chevrolet Inception Motorsports 131.856 28.886 -0.673
35 66 Michael McDowell Toyota HP Racing LLC 131.797 28.899 -0.686
36 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Speed Energy 131.352 28.997 -0.784
37 13 Casey Mears Toyota GEICO 131.293 29.010 -0.797
38 55 Travis Kvapil Ford Front Row Motorsports 131.058 29.062 -0.849
39 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota NEMCO Motorsports 130.833 29.112 -0.899
40 32 Mike Bliss Ford Street King 130.613 29.161 -0.948
41 37 Josh Wise Ford Max Q Motorsports 130.550 29.175 -0.962
42 71 Andy Lally+* Ford Interstate Moving Services 128.784 29.575 -1.362
43 46 Scott Speed Ford Red Line Oil 130.305 29.230 -1.017

+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie