Race Weekend Central

Ryan Newman On 2011 Irwin Tools Night Race Pole at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Ryan Newman has long been known for winning pole positions but it has been a less frequent occurrence over the last few years. Friday afternoon (Aug. 26) he was able to get the job done again, laying down a lap of 15.624 seconds for a speed of 122.811 mph.

Starting next to Newman on the front row will be Carl Edwards, who was the last car out during qualifying. Edwards came up 18 thousandths of a second short with a lap of 15.642 seconds and a speed of 122.670 mph. Edwards’s teammate Matt Kenseth was the third fastest by one thousandth of a second with a speed of 122.662 mph. On the outside of the second row will be Jeff Gordon, who clocked a lap of 15.654 seconds and a speed of 122.576 mph.

The pole is Newman’s 48th pole win in 356 Sprint Cup races. He is 10th on the all-time pole winners’ list. It is Newman’s second pole of the season having won the pole at New Hampshire earlier this year. Newman went on to win the race at Loudon after he won that pole position.

Said Edwards of his qualifying effort, “At least I will be on the front row. I won’t get anything in my teeth up there on the Aflac Dental car on the first lap at least. Ryan did a good job and we did everything right today. 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 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 for Aflac.”

Kenseth said of another good qualifying run, “That was good. We were pretty good in qualifying trim. I wish I had a lap back. The times are so tight here that you always think you can do better. We pretty much got most of it, we were just a little loose.”

Ryan Newman joked around about not winning as many poles as he used to.

“I spent so much time trying to win a race without winning a pole because you guys (media) criticized me for so long for winning poles without winning races. Now, after Loudon, I just figured if it works once, we’ll just keep trying to do that. So, just doing the stats, man. I’m a mathematician.

“Actually I was sitting out on the grid trying to figure out where I was going to hang my tree stands this year instead of focusing on the qualifying laps and evidently that is the secret.”

2011 IRWIN TOOLS NIGHT RACE QUALIFYING SPEEDS

About the author

What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? The writer, radio contributor and racetrack announcer coordinates the site’s local short track coverage, hitting up Saturday Night Specials across the country while tracking the sport’s future racing stars. The writer for our signature Cup post-race column, Thinkin’ Out Loud (Mondays) also sits down with Cup crew chiefs to talk shop every Friday with Tech Talk. Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.

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