Rockingham, N.C. — It’s a difficult fact to believe, but NASCAR’s Winston Cup cars have only posted qualifying times twice in the past five weeks worth of races. The reason for the infrequent qualifying session is due to the horrid luck the tour has had with the weather.
But looking at the upside of the hit-or-miss qualifying sessions, the last two times the field was set by times Ryan Newman set the pace to beat. That pace, today, at Rockingham, brought Newman his fifth pole of the year when he cruised the North Carolina Speedway with a 23.494-second lap at 1555.836 mph.
“I really like this race track,” said Newman after the run to the pole. “It’s a lot of fun and it’s a driver’s race track, like Darlington [Raceway], where the tires fall off, the grip falls off and you’ve got to move around the race track. There are a lot of grooves here.”
“Running a perfect lap is no different than running the best lap the car has,” Newman added. “I’m just pretty much at the mercy of what the race car has to offer. I just go out there and do the best I can and fortunately the guys did a great job preparing the race car.”
Jamie McMurray was the meat in the Ford Top-3 sandwich with Todd Bodine completing the group.
Bodine, who needs to show something with the Travis Carter entry, now that it’s forced to shop for a sponsor for 2003, qualified third for Sunday’s event. “I think the only thing I wish I could do over was Turn 2,” said Bodine after his run. “The car got just a little loose up off there and I couldn't quite get to the throttle the way I wanted, but this is awesome for Haas Carter Motorsports. This is the best they've run here in a long time, especially myself. I love this race track. I've won twice here, but I just have not been able to run good in a Cup car, but qualifying good is a start."
Mark Martin also made a run into the Top-5. "That was a ton of pickup from practice and that was due to Ben [Leslie] and the guys and the adjustments they made,” said the fifth place qualifier.
“The car was really fantastic on used tires in practice, but when we put new tires on we were sorely disappointed,” added the championship hopeful. “The guys made some good changes for this thing and I reached in and got me a lap. I know this car is gonna be awesome in race trim with the way it's driving today. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow and eventually Sunday. I think it's gonna be a great car for the race."
Series point leader Tony Stewart’s tight conversations, both before and after qualifying, might show that the heat is on the Rushville Rocket. "It wasn't terrible,” said the firebrand driver on his 24th place starting position. “[The car] just didn't go any faster in qualifying. It was just loose.”
Stewart went on to say that he’s always raced well at “The Rock,” and that he’ll get the car sorted out by Sunday. Not a single reporter asked Stewart why his lap had the exact same time as Hank Parker Jr., who is making his first ever Winston Cup start here at Rockingham. But the weekend is young and perhaps a better opportunity might present itself later in the event cycle.
Needing a provisional to make the show was Dale Jarrett, who ran a lap 39th fast in the session. Robert Yates Racing teammate Ricky Rudd, operating with fill-in crew chief, Ray Fox, qualified 20th. Others who needed a provisional starting position included Terry Labonte, Bobby Hamilton, Steve Park, Mike Wallace, Casey Atwood and Brett Bodine.
Not making the show was Tony Raines, Tim Sauter, Carl Long, Ron Hornaday and Hideo Fukuyama. This was Fukuyama’s third and final attempt of the year, with his two starts coming at Dover, Del. and Martinsville, Va.
