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Sunday, May 25, 2003
Newman gives Penske pole for Coca-Cola 600
The Associated Press
CONCORD, N.C. - Ryan Newman won the pole for the Coca-Cola 600, giving owner Roger Penske cars on the front row in both of Sunday's races.
Newman, last year's top rookie, ran a lap at 185.312 mph in his No. 12 Dodge on Friday to qualify first for NASCAR's longest race of the year. Halfway across the country, Helio Castroneves is on the pole for the Indianapolis 500.
Castroneves is trying to win his third straight 500 in a Penske-owned car, and Newman will try to give Penske a sweep in "The Double."
Elliott Sadler qualified second in a Ford, Mike Skinner was third in a Pontiac, followed by Jeff Gordon and rookie Jack Sprague.
Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart qualified sixth, followed by Joe Nemechek, Dave Blaney, Michael Waltrip and Johnny Benson.
Rusty Wallace, Newman's teammate at Penske Racing South, qualified 34th.
Robby Gordon, who plans to run in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, needed a provisional to make the field and is scheduled to start 38th.
His qualifying position didn't really matter, though, because Robby Gordon will miss the pre-race driver's meeting. He'll be commuting from Indy and will be sent to the back of the 43-car field when he arrives at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
"Because I'm most likely going to have to start last, we felt there was no real sense in going down and working on qualifying setups," Robby Gordon said. "We focused on race setup, and the car was pretty good."
Newman will try to finish the Coca-Cola 600 for the first time. Penske entered him two years ago, and Newman responded by winning his first career pole. He then crashed 12 laps into the race and didn't finish.
BUSCH SERIES: Kevin Harvick set a Busch Series track record Friday, turning a lap at 184.543 mph to win the pole for the Carquest 300. Harvick's lap around Lowe's Motor Speedway easily bested Ron Hornaday's year-old record of 182.094 mph.
Harvick ran a 181.953 in his Cup car earlier to qualify 20th for the 600. He said the track temperature at the time he ran his qualifying laps was the difference.
"The sun popped out there in Winston Cup qualifying, but the clouds came back over during Busch qualifying and made for some faster speeds."
Coca-Cola 600 Lineup
Friday's qualifying; Sunday race
At Lowe's Motor Speedway
Concord, N.C.
() car number in parentheses
| 1. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 185.312 mph. | | 2. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 184.300 | | 3. (4) Mike Skinner, Pontiac, 183.999 | | 4. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 183.986 | | 5. (0) Jack Sprague, Pontiac, 183.530 | | 6. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 183.468 | | 7. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 183.231 | | 8. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 183.231 | | 9. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 183.156 | | 10. (10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 183.125 | | 11. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 183.119 | | 12. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 182.952 | | 13. (7) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 182.593 | | 14. (1) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 182.580 | | 15. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 182.482 | | 16. (30) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 182.408 | | 17. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 182.242 | | 18. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 182.235 | | 19. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 181.996 | | 20. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 181.953 | | 21. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 181.910 | | 22. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 181.671 | | 23. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 181.586 | | 24. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 181.561 | | 25. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 181.476 | | 26. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 181.421 | | 27. (71) Kevin Lepage, Chevrolet, 181.421 | | 28. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 181.360 | | 29. (14) Larry Foyt, Dodge, 181.275 | | 30. (49) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 181.117 | | 31. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 181.044 | | 32. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 180.953 | | 33. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 180.892 | | 34. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 180.838 | | 35. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 180.542 | | 36. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 180.499 | | 37. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, Provisional. | | 38. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, Provisional. | | 39. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, Provisional. | | 40. (21) Ricky Rudd, Ford, Provisional. | | 41. (22) Ward Burton, Dodge, Provisional. | | 42. (43) John Andretti, Dodge, Provisional. | | 43. (01) Mike Wallace, Pontiac, Provisional. |
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