Teammates Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart swept the front row for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Ask pole winner, Newman, what makes him so good at the one-mile oval known as the Magic Mile, at Loudon New Hampshire, and he doesn’t know why.
After complimenting the Hendrick Motorsports equipment supplied to Stewart-Haas Racing Newman said: “I don’t know. I’ve always said I’ve been blessed with really good cars here. But it works,” he said with a smile.
“It’s like making good macaroni and cheese sometimes. It just tastes good,” he added with a laugh. “I don’t know what the entire chemistry is, but I like it.”
Newman, who stands ninth in the points, turned a record-breaking lap of 28.165 seconds/135.232 mph in his Chevrolet, knocking David Reutimann off of the provisional pole. In all 12 drivers eclipsed the previous record.
It was Newman’s 47th pole and fifth at this track. It was also Newman’s fifth pole for Stewart Haas Racing, but a first front-row start next to his teammate.
“I’m just proud of the U.S. Army team and everybody at Stewart-Haas to get our first front row together first of all, but for us to be the winning car of that and have a good start for the entire weekend (was great).
“The car felt good in practice. The lap itself was nice and smooth. I wouldn’t say it was perfect, but it was good enough and if we can make that a little bit better for Sunday, we’ll be in really good shape.”
Reutimann ended up third in a Toyota at 134.763 mph followed by the Dodge of Kurt Busch. Fifth spot went to Brad Kesolowski in another Penske Dodge. Cup series points leader Kyle Busch will start 19th.
On Saturday Newman followed up on Friday's pole with a win in the Whelen Modified race beating some local favorites in a virtually caution-free race. It was his third consecutive win in this series at this race track.
“This race track is unique depending on what car you drive. The track is completely different for the Cup Race,” he said. “For Bono (his Whelen Modified crew chief Kevin Manion) and myself it gives us a little bit of confidence going into tomorrow (Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.)”
Ask pole winner, Newman, what makes him so good at the one-mile oval known as the Magic Mile, at Loudon New Hampshire, and he doesn’t know why.
After complimenting the Hendrick Motorsports equipment supplied to Stewart-Haas Racing Newman said: “I don’t know. I’ve always said I’ve been blessed with really good cars here. But it works,” he said with a smile.
“It’s like making good macaroni and cheese sometimes. It just tastes good,” he added with a laugh. “I don’t know what the entire chemistry is, but I like it.”
Newman, who stands ninth in the points, turned a record-breaking lap of 28.165 seconds/135.232 mph in his Chevrolet, knocking David Reutimann off of the provisional pole. In all 12 drivers eclipsed the previous record.
It was Newman’s 47th pole and fifth at this track. It was also Newman’s fifth pole for Stewart Haas Racing, but a first front-row start next to his teammate.
“I’m just proud of the U.S. Army team and everybody at Stewart-Haas to get our first front row together first of all, but for us to be the winning car of that and have a good start for the entire weekend (was great).
“The car felt good in practice. The lap itself was nice and smooth. I wouldn’t say it was perfect, but it was good enough and if we can make that a little bit better for Sunday, we’ll be in really good shape.”
Reutimann ended up third in a Toyota at 134.763 mph followed by the Dodge of Kurt Busch. Fifth spot went to Brad Kesolowski in another Penske Dodge. Cup series points leader Kyle Busch will start 19th.
On Saturday Newman followed up on Friday's pole with a win in the Whelen Modified race beating some local favorites in a virtually caution-free race. It was his third consecutive win in this series at this race track.
“This race track is unique depending on what car you drive. The track is completely different for the Cup Race,” he said. “For Bono (his Whelen Modified crew chief Kevin Manion) and myself it gives us a little bit of confidence going into tomorrow (Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.)”