Ryan Newman has taken a rain-affected pole position for Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Ahead of the second race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, a rain delay halted the qualifying session mid-way through each driver’s single lap runs.
Newman, the last driver to make an attempt, posted a lap at 135.002 mph (28.213s) to knock Kasey Kahne (134.763 mph) off the top spot.
Newman’s pole could be a very good omen for the Chase contender, as the #39 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet won the July race at New Hampshire from the pole. It’s his third pole of the season and the 49th of his career.
Kahne’s Red Bull Racing team-mate, Brian Vickers, qualified before the rain delay, and his speed of 134.648 mph stood up for the third. Greg Biffle will start fourth ahead of Kurt Busch.
The session stalled with five cars left on the grid when Juan Montoya declined to take to the track for his qualifying lap in a light rain. Montoya sat on pit road, as did the four cars behind him, including the #48 Chevrolet of defending champion Jimmie Johnson.
Instead, NASCAR sent out jet dryers, and though a light mist continued to fall, the track dried enough to resume the session. Montoya posted a lap that was only good enough for 31st. The Columbian was not impressed …
Johnson followed with a lap fast enough to secure the 10th starting position. Chase leader Kevin Harvick, who holds a seven-point margin on Tony Stewart, will start sixth.
Australian Marcos Ambrose will start the Sylvania 300 from 29th place.
Starting order for the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire.
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Haas Automation | 135.002 | 28.213 | Leader |
| 2 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | Red Bull | 134.763 | 28.263 | -0.050 |
| 3 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 134.648 | 28.287 | -0.074 |
| 4 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | Ford40MPG.com | 134.587 | 28.300 | -0.087 |
| 5 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 134.382 | 28.343 | -0.130 |
| 6 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Budweiser | 134.354 | 28.349 | -0.136 |
| 7 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont | 134.160 | 28.390 | -0.177 |
| 8 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M’s | 134.146 | 28.393 | -0.180 |
| 9 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 134.146 | 28.393 | -0.180 |
| 10 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s | 134.075 | 28.408 | -0.195 |
| 11 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Cheerios / Hamburger Helper | 134.056 | 28.412 | -0.199 |
| 12 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Diet Mountain Dew / National Guard | 133.981 | 28.428 | -0.215 |
| 13 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Best Buy | 133.820 | 28.462 | -0.249 |
| 14 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Sylvania / Menards | 133.816 | 28.463 | -0.250 |
| 15 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Bush’s Best Baked Beans / Kingsford | 133.792 | 28.468 | -0.255 |
| 16 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 133.769 | 28.473 | -0.260 |
| 17 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 133.755 | 28.476 | -0.263 |
| 18 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 133.595 | 28.510 | -0.297 |
| 19 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 133.572 | 28.515 | -0.302 |
| 20 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Office Depot | 133.445 | 28.542 | -0.329 |
| 21 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 133.357 | 28.561 | -0.348 |
| 22 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Golden Corral / Richie Evans NASCAR Hall of Fame | 133.245 | 28.585 | -0.372 |
| 23 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Scotts WinterGuard Fertilizer | 133.203 | 28.594 | -0.381 |
| 24 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 133.114 | 28.613 | -0.400 |
| 25 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Axe Cool Metal | 132.905 | 28.658 | -0.445 |
| 26 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS “We Love Logistics” | 132.896 | 28.660 | -0.447 |
| 27 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Affliction Clothing: Live Fast | 132.665 | 28.710 | -0.497 |
| 28 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Ground | 132.591 | 28.726 | -0.513 |
| 29 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Dewalt | 132.572 | 28.730 | -0.517 |
| 30 | 51 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | Thank A Teacher Today / Security Benefit | 132.429 | 28.761 | -0.548 |
| 31 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Degree Men | 132.232 | 28.804 | -0.591 |
| 32 | 38 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | Long John Silver’s | 132.213 | 28.808 | -0.595 |
| 33 | 34 | David Gilliland | Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 132.048 | 28.844 | -0.631 |
| 34 | 30 | David Stremme | Chevrolet | Inception Motorsports | 131.856 | 28.886 | -0.673 |
| 35 | 66 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | HP Racing LLC | 131.797 | 28.899 | -0.686 |
| 36 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | Speed Energy | 131.352 | 28.997 | -0.784 |
| 37 | 13 | Casey Mears | Toyota | GEICO | 131.293 | 29.010 | -0.797 |
| 38 | 55 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 131.058 | 29.062 | -0.849 |
| 39 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | NEMCO Motorsports | 130.833 | 29.112 | -0.899 |
| 40 | 32 | Mike Bliss | Ford | Street King | 130.613 | 29.161 | -0.948 |
| 41 | 37 | Josh Wise | Ford | Max Q Motorsports | 130.550 | 29.175 | -0.962 |
| 42 | 71 | Andy Lally+* | Ford | Interstate Moving Services | 128.784 | 29.575 | -1.362 |
| 43 | 46 | Scott Speed | Ford | Red Line Oil | 130.305 | 29.230 | -1.017 |
| Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 135 | Steve Park | Chevrolet | “Ole Blue” Tribute | 128.398 | 29.664 | -1.451 |
| 45 | 150 | T.J. Bell* | Chevrolet | Green Smoke | 127.483 | 29.877 | -1.664 |
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