Newman earns pole for Subway 500

April 11, 2008

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AVONDALE, Ariz. // - Still smarting from the indignity of being penalized 25 points after his fourth-place car was found to be an eighth of an inch too high after Sunday's race at Texas, Ryan Newman bounced back yesterday with his 43rd career pole.

The Daytona 500 winner will start tomorrow night's Subway Fresh Fit 500 from the front, with a solid chance to get back to Victory Lane.

Newman, who drives for Penske Racing, has won at least one pole in each of his eight seasons in NASCAR and moved into a tie with NASCAR pioneer Buck Baker for 10th on the career qualifying list. Newman's fast lap on the mile Phoenix oval was 133.457 mph, just 0.045 faster than runner-up Elliott Sadler's 133.412.

Carl Edwards, coming off a win at Texas, his third victory of the season, was third at 133.378, followed by Mark Martin at 133.368, Kasey Kahne at 133.304, Kyle Busch at 133.274 and two-time reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson at 133.240.

Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon, the defending winner of this event, qualified 11th, just ahead of two-time series champion Tony Stewart and fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Among the drivers outside the top 35 in car owner points, who had to qualify on speed, Dave Blaney, David Reutimann, Mike Skinner, former open-wheel stars Dario Franchitti and Patrick Carpentier, Joe Nemechek and Johnny Sauter, who replaced Jeremy Mayfield this week in the No. 70 Chevrolet, made the 43-car field. Bill Elliott got the former Cup champion's provisional and will start last.

• Drug testing // NASCAR stars are serious about fighting drug use in the sport. In the wake of revelations this week by former Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series driver Aaron Fike that he was addicted to painkillers and sometimes used heroin at the track on the same day he raced, drivers quizzed about the situation at Phoenix International Raceway were dismayed. "I cannot believe it," two-time reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said. "It's absurd." NASCAR's substance abuse policy, based on "reasonable suspicion," allows the sanctioning organization to broadly administer tests anytime, anywhere.

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Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun

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