Newman captures the NSCS Lenox Industrial Tools 301 pole

Ryan Newman captured the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Lenox Industrial Tools 301 pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Friday with a track record lap of 135.232 MPH (28.165 SECS).

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”218″][/media-credit]“It wasn’t a perfect, perfect lap, but the car has a lot of speed. And I’m just really proud of the U.S. Army Chevrolet guys and Stewart-Haas Racing and hopefully if Clint (Bowyer) doesn’t get a good lap, we can be on the front row here, which would be really cool. But we’ll see. We’ve got our fingers crossed.” Newman said.

Teammate Tony Stewart qualified second giving Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) a front-row sweep.

“It’s awesome. We have a great group of guys at SHR. We’ve got great engines and great chassis from Henricks and I’m just really proud of our organization.” Stewart said.

This was Newman’s first pole of the season, 47th of his career, his fifth pole at NHIS and it’s the first time both SHR Chevrolet race cars will start side-by-side at the front of the field.

David Reutimann qualified third, Kurt Busch fourth and Brad Keselowski qualified fifth.

“It didn’t feel that good at all, but thankfully the Aaron’s Dream Machine has been pretty good since we unloaded. It ended up being okay there, but the clouds are coming now and it’s not going to do us any favors. The track is going to cool down some. Hopefully this will hold up for a good starting position on Sunday.” Reutimann said.

“A top-five starting spot is great. It keeps us up front in the mix and gives us a good pit selection.” Busch said.

“We started practice very strong, but fell off at the end. This was a good pickup from where we ended up in practice. It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. This track has a short-track feel to it which I think is good; it serves the sport well. It’s a lot of fun to watch. I like this place.” Keselowski said.