Ryan Newman took his 6th straight Bud Pole tonight at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and he certainly lived up to his “Rocket Man” monicker. His time of 28.588 (193.928 mph) was almost a tenth of a second quicker than Carl Edwards and was good for his 7th pole of 2005 and the 34th of his NEXTEL Cup career. He’s now clinched the contingency for most Bud Poles this season as his nearest pursuer is Elliott Sadler with four….but Ryan would win the tiebreaker as he has more outside poles.
For Carl Edwards, this is his best starting spot since he had the pole at California in September.
Dave Blaney (5th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 3rd at Bristol in August.
Martin Truex Jr (8th) has his career-best starting position this weekend. His previous best was 10th at Daytona in February.
Brian Vickers (11th) had his best qualifying run since he timed in 9th at California in September.
Mike Skinner (15th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 7th at Daytona in February.
Johnny Benson (19th) has his best starting spot since he qualified 9th at Richmond in September of 2003!
Carl Long (20th) has his career-best starting position this weekend. His previous best was 21st at Darlington in May.
Reed Sorenson (22nd) makes his NEXTEL Cup debut this weekend. He’ll go the full schedule for Chip Ganassi next season.
Bobby Hamilton (26th) has his best starting spot since he lined up 17th at Homestead in November of 2002 (only 3 races).
Chad Chaffin (43rd) makes his first Cup start since Martinsville last October. He started 37th and finished 39th that day.
STREAKIN….Elliott Sadler has 6 Top-10 starts in a row.
Tony Stewart has 5 Top-10 starts in a row.
Ryan Newman has 5 Top-10 starts in the last 6 races.
(Stock Car Fans)(10-28-2005)
