MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Ryan Newman must be close to perfect the rest of the way to win the Nextel Cup championship, and he took a positive step by grabbing the pole Friday for the Subway 500.
"It's a good start to the entire weekend," said Newman, ninth among 10 drivers and 271 points behind series leader Kurt Busch.
Newman needs outstanding finishes in the final five races of the 10-race playoff, and quite a bit of good luck. The narrow half-mile oval at Martinsville Speedway - where bunched fields frequently lead to crashes - might be a good place to find a little good fortune.
Like six of the other drivers in the title chase, Newman cannot contend without bad finishes by Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, who have been turning the competition into a three-way battle.
"We're looking for places to make up major ground because we need that now," Newman said. "We're not out of the championship by any means. We're not in the best position, but we'll keep our nose to the grindstone."
Newman led the way on the newly resurfaced oval, where 17 drivers broke the track qualifying record. He turned a lap at 97.043 mph to win his series-high seventh pole of the season, breaking Tony Stewart's 4-year-old mark of 95.371.
Newman is joined on the front row by teammate Rusty Wallace (96.234).
FORMULA ONE: The series governing body imposed sweeping technical changes designed to slash costs and improve the qualify of racing starting next year. The aim is to give small-time players more of a chance against free spenders such as Ferrari, which has won 15 of 17 events this season. The changes, which take effect at the first race of 2005, include: Teams will be required to use only one set of tires for qualifying and the race each weekend; engines must last two races and car bodies must be designed to reduce the speed of the cars. In 2006, new 2.4-liter V8 engines will be introduced in a bid to reduce horsepower and costs.
During practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix in San Paulo, Rubens Barrichello set the pace, just ahead of Michael Schumacher, as the Ferrari teammates took the top times. Barrichello, who grew up near the track, completed the 2.678-mile circuit in 1 minute, 11.166 seconds. Schumacher was next in 1:11.334.
BUSCH: Points leader Martin Truex won his seventh pole of the season in qualifying for today's Sam's Town 250 at Memphis. Truex, 144 points ahead of Kyle Busch, sped around the three-quarter-mile oval in a Chevrolet at 120.198 mph. Former Cup champion Bill Elliott, running in his first Busch race in more than 10 years, qualified second at 119.601 in a Dodge.
TRUCKS: Rain washed out qualifying for the Kroger 200 in Martinsville, Va., causing the starting grid to be set by owner points and leaving Darrell Waltrip out of the field. Series leader Bobby Hamilton starts first today in the 22nd of 25 races, with Dennis Setzer on the outside of the front row.
CHAMP CAR: Sebastien Bourdais moved closer to his first title by guaranteeing himself a front-row starting spot for the Lexmark Indy 300 in the opening qualifying session in Surfers Paradise, Australia. The Tampa resident needs to accumulate seven points more than Newman/Haas teammate Bruno Junqueira to win the title. Bourdais picked up a point by posting the fastest time on the 2.795-mile temporary street course. Bourdais' fast lap of 1:34.439 was just over a tenth of a second faster than 1995 race winner Paul Tracy.
