All News Bill Elliott Bobby Labonte Carl Edwards Dave Blaney David Pearson Elliott Sadler Geoff Bodine Mark Martin Martin Truex Jr. Reed Sorenson Ryan Newman Tony Stewart

Atlanta Qualifying Notes:

October 28, 2005 at 12:00 AM

• Ryan Newman won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Bud Pole for the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, lapping Atlanta Motor Speedway in 28.588 seconds at 193.928 mph. Geoffrey Bodine holds the track-qualifying record of 28.074 seconds, 197.478 mph, set Nov. 15, 1997, in the first qualifying session held on the 1.54-mile configuration.
• This is Newman’s 34th career Bud Pole in 149 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races.
• This is Newman’s seventh Bud Pole and 27th top-10 start in 2005 – both more than any other driver.
• This is Newman’s sixth Bud Pole in eight races at Atlanta. It is his seventh front-row start here. His worst start here was sixth in October 2002.
• Newman extended his record consecutive Bud Poles at Atlanta to six. Buddy Baker posted three consecutive Bud Poles at Atlanta (fall 1979-fall 1980). No other driver has posted more than two consecutive Bud Poles here. This is the most consecutive Bud Poles since Bill Elliott posted six straight at Talladega (spring 1985-fall 1987). The all-time record for consecutive Bud Poles at a track is held by David Pearson with 11 at Charlotte (October 1973-October 1978).
• Carl Edwards posted the second-quickest qualifying lap of 28.663 seconds, 193.420 mph – and will join Newman on the front row for the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500. He posted his third top-five start in as many races at Atlanta and his ninth in 2005.
• This is the 10th Bud Pole for Dodge in 2005. Chevrolet has 13 Bud Poles and Ford has eight. Qualifying was canceled at Dover in June and Watkins Glen.
• Elliott Sadler (third) posted his fifth top-10 start in 14 races at Atlanta, all in the past six races here. It is his 19th top-10 start this season.
• Mark Martin (fourth) posted his 25th top-10 start in his 40 races at Atlanta, but just his third in the past eight. Martin has just nine top-10 starts in 2005.
• Dave Blaney (fifth) posted his sixth top-10 start in his 12 races at Atlanta but his first in the past seven. It is his fifth top-10 start this season.
• Martin Truex Jr. (eighth) posted the best qualifying effort in his six-race NASCAR NEXTEL Cup career.
• Only four of the 10 Chase drivers qualified in the top 10: Newman, Edwards, Martin and Tony Stewart (10th).
• Reed Sorenson (22nd) became the 10th different driver to qualify for his career first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race this season.
• The last race won form the Bud Pole at Atlanta was by Bobby Labonte in the 1996 season finale NAPA 500.(NASCAR Statisical Services)(10-28-2005)