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September 7, 2002
Johnson, Newman are in front
RICHMOND, Va. -- Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman added a bit of history to their impressive debut seasons Friday, becoming the first rookie drivers to sweep a Winston Cup front row in the modern era.
Johnson earned his fourth pole of the season with a lap at 126.145 mph around the 0.75-mile oval of Richmond International Raceway. He'll start tonight's Monte Carlo 400 with Newman on his outside.
Newman, who has won two poles this year, made his lap at 125.733 mph, the same time Dave Blaney posted.
Blaney's team brought a Ford that he qualified fifth in at Loudon, N.H., but he went out for practice and promptly crashed, forcing him to go to a backup car.
In that one, he qualified third.
Newman got the second spot because he was the first to post his lap, giving him and Johnson the first rookie front row in the series since 1972. Johnson is the first rookie pole winner here since Bobby Labonte in 1993.
Mark Martin earned the No. 4 spot, giving Ford three consecutive cars at the top of the field behind Johnson's Chevrolet.
Also, two of NASCAR's hottest drivers will start at the back for today's race.
Jeff Gordon, who has won consecutive races, hit the Turn 2 wall in practice and damaged the right side of his primary No. 24 Chevrolet.
Bill Elliott, seventh in points, lost the motor in his No. 9 Dodge and the crew was changing engines during the final session. Gordon had qualified 10th and Elliott was scheduled to start 19th.
FUNAI 250: Dale Earnhardt Jr. returned to the series he once dominated and did it more convincingly than ever, leading 190 laps and easily winning the Busch Grand National race at Richmond.
So dominant was the 1998 and 1999 series champion that he led by more than 13 seconds in a span of 60 green-flag laps, and three times pulled away on restarts in the final 30 laps of the crash-filled event.
"It was a great car. This was a lot of fun," Earnhardt said. "The car would do anything, absolutely anything I wanted it to do."
The victory came in a Chevrolet Earnhardt co-owns with stepmother Teresa Earnhardt, and was the Winston Cup star's second in three BGN starts this season.
Jamie McMurray finished second, followed by Jeff Burton, Tony Raines, Jason Keller and Greg Biffle.
"I had pretty much the best car I've ever had and I had no chance running with (Earnhardt)," McMurray said.
STEWART ACCUSED: NASCAR driver Tony Stewart has been accused of shoving a female fan after a race in Tennessee last month.
The unidentified woman was in the pit area at Bristol Motor Speedway watching the Sharpie 500 Winston Cup race when she said she was pushed by Stewart, who finished 24th.
"We had one officer witness it," Sullivan County Sheriff Wayne Anderson said Friday.
Stewart declined comment through a spokesman.
Mike Arning, a spokesman for Stewart's team, said team owner Joe Gibbs was expected to arrive in Richmond today and would meet with reporters then.
Arning said the sheriff's department interviewed him and five others at the track Friday.
DELPHI INDY 300: Not even a crash can slow Sam Hornish Jr. The defending IRL series champion turned in the fastest afternoon practice lap hours after crashing in the morning session. Hornish ran 223.429 mph in preparation for Sunday's race at Joliet, Ill. "(The crew) did a good job getting it out there so we could go out and run some more laps," he said.