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.