NEXTEL CUP Newman takes pole, breaks track record

He's like a win Saturday to get back into the chase for the Nextel Cup.
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Ryan Newman has an engineering degree that helps him rely on facts instead of theories.
The fact of the matter is he's still a contender in the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship. The reality is that he's a long-shot to win it.
Either way, winning the pole Thursday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway won't hurt him. Newman will start first in the UAW-GM Quality 500 after shattering the track record with a lap at 188.877 mph.
Although he's eighth in the standings and 232 points behind leader Kurt Busch, Newman knows a victory Saturday night would go a long way toward closing the gap and getting him back in the race for the title.
"We are at a deficit, but I think we can make that up," he said. "It's going to be hard and it's probably going to take some misfortune from some other competitors. But mathematically, we are still capable."
Sets track record
Newman's lap beat the track record of 187.052 that Jimmie Johnson set here in May -- a lap that erased the record Newman had held.
"I told my wife I wanted it back," he said.
Kasey Kahne ran a lap at 187.311 to qualify second and Casey Mears was third to put Dodges in the first three spots. Mears won the pole for tonight's Busch series race shortly before he made his Cup qualifying run.
Elliott Sadler qualified his Ford fifth, but Nextel chase leaders Kurt Busch qualified 21st, Jeff Gordon 23rd and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 25th.
Busch wasn't rattled by the mediocre qualifying run.
"It's a good car, we haven't had any problems with it until now," he said. "We've got to get up there and lead a lap and get those five points and make sure we do the best job all day."
Meanwhile, the drivers trying to climb back into the Chase had strong qualifying runs.
Johnson qualifies ninth
Johnson, who dominated the race here in May by leading 334 of 400 laps, qualified ninth. He is desperate for a strong run after wrecking at Kansas last Sunday to fall 247 points behind the leader.
Mark Martin, who announced earlier Thursday that 2005 will be his final full-time season, qualified 12th. He's fifth in the standings, 150 points behind.
"We have a good race team, we're back a few points but we're fifth and we've moved up every week except for last week," Martin said. "This is a week to try to make some hay."
Jeremy Mayfield qualified 13th, and despite being in 10th place and 257 points back, thinks he still has a shot at the title.
Tony Stewart was 15th, and reigning series champion Matt Kenseth was the worst of the Chase competitors at 36th.