Sylvania 300 Qualifying
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Sylvania 300 Qualifying
Date: Sept. 18, 2009
Event: Sylvania 300 Qualifying (Round 27 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1.058-mile oval)
Pole Winner: Juan Pablo Montoya of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing (28.545 seconds at 133.431 mph – new track record)
SHR Lineup: Tony Stewart (2nd, 28.728 seconds at 132.581 mph)
Ryan Newman (18th, 29.024 seconds at 131.229 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 New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon by qualifying second for Sunday’s Sylvania 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Stewart turned a lap of 28.728 seconds at 132.581 mph around the 1.058-mile oval.
“I’m really happy with how we qualified,” said Stewart, who has two Sprint Cup wins at New Hampshire (July 2001 and July 2005). “Really proud of Darian Grubb (crew chief) and these guys. They did an awesome job on the Office Depot/Old Spice Chevy. If we qualify good here, we normally race good here. So, I’m pretty excited about today so far. This is the best I’ve qualified here in a long time.”
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala SS for SHR, qualified 18th with a time of 29.024 seconds at 131.229 mph.
“That was not the lap we were looking for, by any means,” said Newman, who also has two wins at New Hampshire (September 2002 and September 2005). “We backed up what we ran in practice, but we were looking for more than that. The U.S. Army/Haas Automation Chevrolet felt really good in race trim, so although we won’t start where we want to, I think we’ll be fine when it comes to the race on Sunday.”
Juan Pablo Montoya captured his second career Sprint Cup pole and his first at New Hampshire with a track record time of 28.545 seconds at 133.431 mph. Kurt Busch, who ran the exact same time as Stewart, will start third, as Stewart won the tiebreaker via his second-place standing in points to Busch’s seventh-place rank. Denny Hamlin qualified fourth (28.848 seconds at 132.030 mph), while Carl Edwards (28.852 seconds at 132.012 mph) rounded out the top-five.
Forty-five drivers attempted to qualify for the Sylvania 300. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Dexter Bean and Derrike Cope.
As far as manufacturers went, qualifying at New Hampshire was a model of parity. Chevrolet swept the front row via the runs made by Montoya and Stewart. Dodge was next best at the hands of Busch. Toyota was the third-fastest make thanks to Hamlin, and carrying the flag for Ford was Edwards.
The Sylvania 300 – the first race of the 10-race Chase for the Championship – gets underway at 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 20 with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 1 p.m.