NASCAR Vickers nearly takes poles in both events

He's on the pole for the Busch race; Ryan Newman took the Winston Cup pole.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Brian Vickers was hoping to win two poles in one day, even with Ryan Newman lurking Friday at the end of the qualifying line.
Vickers, a 20-year-old rookie who already had won the pole for today's Busch series race, put up the fastest lap early in the qualifying session for Sunday's Winston Cup event at North Carolina Speedway.
He was standing in the pits on the backstretch of the 1.017-mile oval when Newman, the last of 46 drivers in line, drove his Penske Racing South Dodge onto the track.
"I was standing with Bobby Hamilton Jr. and saw Ryan come off the second turn like a rocketship and I said, 'Whew, we're not going to be on the pole today,' " Vickers said.
He was right.
Third consecutive
Newman took his third consecutive pole, second straight for the Pop Secret 400 and 11th of the season. He beat Vickers by 0.011 seconds.
Newman's lap of 155.577 mph was just enough to push the Chevrolet of Vickers to the outside of the front row for the second straight week. Vickers, making only his fourth Winston Cup start, had a lap of 155.505.
"Ryan Newman," Vickers said, shaking his head. "God. That's twice he's knocked me off the pole by a couple of thousandths. I guess two poles in one day was just asking for too much"
It was just another day at the office for Newman.
"This is a good race car," he said of his No. 12 Intrepid. "It's done a lot of good things for us this year. I'm just a lucky guy to sit behind the wheel and steer it."
Series leader Matt Kenseth, who can wrap up his first Winston Cup championship Sunday, will start 22nd in the 43-car field. He goes into the race 228 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and needs only to be leading by 186 after the race to win his first title. If not, he'll have another chance in the season finale Nov. 16 in Homestead, Fla.
Busch Series
Vickers won the first pole position of his NASCAR Busch Series career Friday at North Carolina Speedway.
Vickers, who enters today's Target House 200 third in the five-driver series championship fight, turned a fast lap of 155.037 mph in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
It's his 58th Busch event.
Series leader Scott Riggs was 10th at 153.323 mph, while second-place Ron Hornaday Jr. qualified 16th, and fourth-place David Green qualified fifth for the 43-car field.
With only this race and the one next Saturday at Homestead, Fla., remaining, Riggs is 17 points ahead of Hornaday, 21 in front of Vickers, and 22 ahead of former Busch champion Green. Fifth-place Jason Keller (who qualified 18th Friday) trails by 60.
Greg Biffle, last year's Busch Series champion and now a regular in the Winston Cup series, was close behind Vickers at 154.926 mph. He was followed by Jeremy Mayfield, another Cup regular making his first Busch start since 1996. It is Biffle's fourth straight front row start in the Busch Series.