Kobalt Tools 500 Qualifying
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Kobalt Tools 500 Qualifying
Date: March 5, 2010
Event: Kobalt Tools 500 Qualifying (Round 4 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr., of Hendrick Motorsports (28.761 seconds at 192.761 mph)
SHR Lineup: Ryan Newman (7th, 28.943 seconds at 191.549 mph)
Tony Stewart (15th, 29.073 seconds at 190.692 mph)
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Tornados Chevrolet Impala, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent in time trials at Atlanta Motor Speedway by qualifying seventh for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Newman turned a lap of 28.943 seconds at 191.549 mph on the 1.54-mile oval.
“I couldn’t see anything at all going into turn one with the sun setting right in my eyes. I really didn’t know where I was,” said Newman, who has seven career poles at Atlanta, tied with Buddy Baker for the most all-time. “We had a good lap, but we didn’t have the best draw and that didn’t help us any out there. It was a good lap, but I would’ve liked to have gotten a little more. I think we have a good racecar on Sunday with the Tornados Chevy. This team has made a lot of improvements over the year with our mile-and-a-half program and I’m comfortable with our cars and our packages at these tracks.”
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala for SHR, will start 15th after turning a lap of 29.073 seconds at 190.692 mph.
“Our car was a lot better in practice,” said Stewart, who scored victories at Atlanta in March 2002 and October 2006. “The early draw didn’t help. The car got a little upset through the bumps in turns one and two and I lost time off two waiting for the car to settle in. We were pretty good in (turns) three and four, though.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr., captured his ninth career pole, his first of the season and his second at Atlanta by posting a lap of 28.761 seconds at 192.761 mph. Kyle Busch will start alongside Earnhardt, as he timed in at 28.833 seconds at 192.280 mph. Juan Pablo Montoya was third (28.859 seconds at 192.106 mph), while Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin (28.903 seconds at 191.814 mph) and Jeff Gordon (28.909 seconds at 191.774 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the Kobalt Tools 500. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Casey Mears, Terry Cook and Aric Almirola.
As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took the top spot thanks to Earnhardt’s pole-winning run. Toyota was next best at the hands of Busch, while Ford was the third-fastest make thanks to Kasey Kahne’s sixth-place run of 28.922 seconds at 191.688 mph. Kurt Busch, who qualified 11th, was the top Dodge at 29.018 seconds at 191.054 mph.
The Kobalt Tools 500 gets underway at 1 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 7 with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at noon.
-SHR-