NASCAR Ryan Newman snares fifth pole

Jamie McMurray continued his terrific burst onto the Winston Cup scene by qualifying second.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Ryan Newman continued his mastery of qualifying, winning his fifth pole of the season when he took the top spot Friday at North Carolina Speedway.
Newman turned a lap in his Ford at 155.836 mph to earn the first starting spot for Sunday's Pop Secret 400. He tied Davey Allison's record for the most poles by a rookie.
Asked how he has made his rookie season seem so easy -- Newman has one victory, won the annual all-star race and is fourth in the Winston Cup standings -- he just laughed.
"Easy is kind of a vague word because by all means, it's not easy," he said. "It's definitely difficult to come to a place like this and get your car hooked up for two laps. Some things will come easier and some things will come harder, and that's all just part of a rookie season.
Jamie McMurray, the fill-in driver for injured Sterling Marlin, continued his terrific burst onto the Winston Cup scene by qualifying second in a Dodge.
McMurray's path
McMurray, who set a NASCAR record by winning in his second start last month, ran a lap at 154.540 mph in his first Cup qualifying effort of the season. Qualifying was rained out in his first three Cup events, so he automatically made the field based on car owner points.
He was pleased with his qualifying effort, but admitted he was disappointed when Newman knocked him off of the pole.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," McMurray said. "Everybody wants to be first.
"But it's a long race and I didn't really expect to beat him -- he was so much faster than everybody else in practice. So I'm glad to be second, but disappointed."
McMurray, who won his first Busch series race last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, then learned a hard lesson about being media-friendly. While answering questions, he heard the roar of the Busch series cars starting for their final practice and realized he needed to be on the track.
"I've got to go, that's my Happy Hour, see you," he said, dropping the microphone and darting off. McMurray starts third in today's Busch race.
Todd Bodine qualified third in a Ford for the Winston Cup event, and was followed by Mike Skinner in a Chevrolet. Fifth in a Ford was Mark Martin, who trails series leader Tony Stewart by 146 points with three races left this season.
"I know this car is going to be awesome in race trim with the way it's driving today," Martin said. "I'm really looking forward to Sunday. I think it's going to be a great car for the race."
Stewart qualified 24th.
Busch
It was an all-Green front row at North Carolina Speedway, where Jeff Green won the pole for the Sam's Club 200 and older brother David qualified second.
Jeff Green, a Winston Cup regular and the 2000 Busch series champion, ran a lap at 153.335 mph to edge David, the 1994 series champion.