STEWART-HAAS RACING Kobalt Tools 500 Qualifying
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Kobalt Tools 500 Qualifying
Date: March 6, 2009
Event: Kobalt Tools 500 Qualifying (Round 4 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga. (1.54-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Mark Martin of Hendrick Motorsports (29.640 seconds at 187.045 mph)
SHR Lineup: Tony Stewart (11th, 29.848 seconds at 185.741 mph) Ryan Newman (12th, 29.874 seconds at 185.579 mph)
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala SS, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent in time trials at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., by qualifying 11th for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Stewart turned a lap of 29.848 seconds at 185.741 mph on the 1.54-mile oval.
“I’m just amazed. We were 32nd in practice, and that’s normal for me, but 11th at the end of qualifying is not my norm. I’m pretty happy and satisfied with that,” said Stewart, who has an average qualifying position of ninth four races into the 2009 Sprint Cup season. “I was loose in (turns) three and four but I was pretty decent in (turns) one and two. I didn’t think I ran a very good lap and then they called and told me on the radio I was 11th, and I was kind of amazed that we were that high. I didn’t think it was that good of a lap, but we must’ve carried more momentum than I thought.”
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala SS for SHR, qualified right behind Stewart in 12th. Newman turned a lap of 29.874 seconds at 185.579 mph.
“I’m really proud of my Haas Automation team,” said Newman, who has scored seven of his 43 career Sprint Cup poles at Atlanta. “We didn’t have a great car in practice. My Chevy was a handful the entire day, but Tony Gibson (crew chief) and the guys made some changes that really helped me out in qualifying tonight. I told them if we could get it handling right, I knew where to hit my marks. In the end, the car was pretty good and I actually thought my lap was a little faster than what it was.”
Mark Martin captured his 42nd career Sprint Cup pole and his second at Atlanta with a time of 29.640 seconds at 187.045 mph. He joined Harry Gant as the only drivers to score a pole past the age of 50 in NASCAR’s premiere series. Gant had three poles after turning 50. Martin turned 50 on Jan. 9, 2009.
Kurt Busch will start alongside Martin on the outside of row one, as he timed in at 29.748 seconds at 186.365 mph. Jamie McMurray (29.757 seconds at 186.309 mph) was third, while Juan Pablo Montoya (29.773 seconds at 186.209 mph) and Greg Biffle (29.777 seconds at 186.184 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-seven drivers attempted to qualify for the Kobalt Tools 500. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Todd Bodine, Scott Riggs, Jeremy Mayfield and Geoff Bodine.
As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took the top spot via the pole run made by Martin. Dodge was next best at the hands of Busch. Ford was the third-fastest make thanks to McMurray. And carrying the flag for Toyota was sixth-quick Denny Hamlin (29.780 seconds at 186.165 mph).
The Kobalt Tools 500 gets underway at 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 8 with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 1:30 p.m.
