Newman lands three-peat for Pocono pole

The "poleman" is back, and today Ryan Newman left no doubt that the work done by Dodge and his Penske Racing crew was the magic needed to get him and his alltel Dodge back to the top of the speed charts.

This afternoon, under partly cloudy skies, with the temperatures hitting the high 80s, Newman sailed his Dodge around the 2.5-mile tri-oval in Long Pond, PA to garner his fourth Bud Pole of the season -- his third-consecutive pole on this year's NASCAR Nextel Cup Series calendar -- to bring his career total to 41.

"It felt really good. Obviously the conditions got pretty good just like right now with the cloud cover around the track. It was a good run for the alltel Dodge. I thought I could have pushed it a little harder because it stuck so good," commented Newman.

Clocking off a lap of 52.922 (170.062mph), Newman was 0.245 seconds faster than Denny Hamlin, who is also looking for the magic he had last year. Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet hit a fast time of 53.167 (169.278mph) to take the front row start for Sunday's race.

Both have won on the Pocono Raceway tri-oval before, Newman back in 2003 and Hamlin twice in his rookie season last year. Both are hungry for a win this year.

Third fastest in today's qualifying was last weekend's race winner. Martin Truex, Jr. turned in another fine performance today after earning his first career Cup victory in Dover last Monday. The Dale Earnhardt, Inc. driver was clocked at 53.346 (168.710mph) in his Chevrolet.

It was again a good day for GM teams as they placed four Chevys in the top-five. Kyle Busch will start fourth on the grid with Clint Bowyer fifth.