Ryan Newman, at one point in his career, averaged a pole every three races. He has gone more than a year since recording his 46th, at last year's Coca-Cola 600. Friday, he was back on top, snaring the pole for Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 in record-breaking fashion. His lap of 28.165 shattered Brad Keselowski's previous qualifying track record, set last September.
It is Newman's 47th pole, good for 10th on the all-time list,and extended his own record for most poles at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with five. He also has two wins at Loudon, including his first victory in September 2002.
Newman's teammate and car owner, Tony Stewart, completed the first front row-sweep for Stewart-Haas Racing in the team's history, dating back to its inception in 2002 as Haas-CNC Racing.
David Reutimann was third, followed by Penske Racing's Kurt Busch and Keselowski.
Defending Lenox Industrial Tools 301 champion Jimmie Johnson was a miserable 28th, worst of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers. Clint Bowyer, who won last September at Loudon and was fastest in Friday's pre-qualifying practice, was 12th.
Only 46 of the 48 drivers originally entered in Sunday's race attempted to qualify. The three unfortunate drivers who will spend race day sitting on the couch are Tony Raines, Scott Riggs, and Dennis Setzer.