Stewart Wins Pole for AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

[media-credit name=”Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”234″][/media-credit]HAMPTON, Ga. (Aug. 31, 2012) – Fresh off his helmet-throwing performance last weekend, Tony Stewart won the pole for Sunday’s AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a lap of 29.787 seconds (186.121 mph).

“That pole is 100 percent due to Ryan Newman,” Stewart said of his teammate, who had qualified earlier in the evening and was able to tell Newman exactly how to set his car up. “He walked back down there to help us before we went out and said there’s a ton of grip out there, you’ve just gotta do it. I was having a hard time convincing myself that’s what I was gonna do.”

Stewart said Newman convinced him to try the high line on turns three and four of his warm-up lap and decide on his way to the start/finish line.

“That’s about 2½ seconds,” Stewart laughed. “I’m not sure if we’d have run the line I’d planned on running we’d have been that fast. It’s awesome having a teammate like. I don’t ever remember being here and seeing anybody run up at the top like he did.”

It was Stewart’s first pole position at the fast superspeedway and his 14th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole. Newman will start inside row nine after qualifying 17th.

“I’m definitely known as a qualifier,” Stewart said. “I want to run a good lap every time, but I know the bigger prize is on Sunday. It doesn’t mean I don’t want poles, I just don’t normally get them.”

Greg Biffle will start outside the front row after turning a lap in 29.863 seconds (185.643 mph).

“It sort of hurts to qualify second like we did today,” Biffle said. “You know, you ask any driver after qualifying, and they could give you 100 reasons why and what they could have done better. I got down in the middle of one and two and hesitated to push the gas down; I thought the car was loose and waited and waited and thought I was gonna have to run a second lap to make up for it. I come by and they told me I was on the front row. I wish I could do it over again, but it was a great lap to put us on the front row. It gives me a lot of confidence for Sunday, both for track position and for pit selection.”

Kyle Busch will start third with a lap of 29.888 seconds (185.493 mph).

“Qualified third here the last few times,” Busch said quickly before jumping into his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series machine for the Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 200. “Can’t get enough to get the pole, but whatever. Just missed a little bit. We’ll see what we get in the race.”

Danica Patrick will start 23rd, her best NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start of the year.

Alpharetta’s Joey Logano will start the race 9th and Unadilla (Ga.) native David Ragan will start 14th. Failing to qualify were Mike Bliss, Josh Wise, Stephen Leicht and Michael McDowell.

Great seats are still available for Sunday’s AdvoCare 500. For tickets or more information call the Atlanta Motor Speedway ticket office at (877) 9-AMS-TIX, (770) 946-4211 or visit www.atlantamotorspeedway.com.

Starting Lineup
AdvoCare 500, Atlanta Motor Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=25
===========================================
Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
===========================================
1 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 186.122 29.787
2 16 Greg Biffle Ford 185.648 29.863
3 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 185.492 29.888
4 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 185.319 29.916
5 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 185.307 29.918
6 55 Mark Martin Toyota 185.232 29.93
7 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 185.22 29.932
8 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 185.139 29.945
9 20 Joey Logano Toyota 185.084 29.954
10 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 185.053 29.959
11 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 184.997 29.968
12 99 Carl Edwards Ford 184.93 29.979
13 43 Aric Almirola Ford 184.874 29.988
14 34 David Ragan Ford 184.738 30.01
15 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 184.609 30.031
16 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 184.566 30.038
17 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 184.48 30.052
18 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 184.425 30.061
19 13 Casey Mears Ford 184.082 30.117
20 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 184.07 30.119
21 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 184.058 30.121
22 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 183.747 30.172
23 10 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 183.673 30.184
24 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 183.643 30.189
25 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 183.509 30.211
26 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 183.412 30.227
27 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 183.388 30.231
28 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 183.37 30.234
29 38 David Gilliland Ford 183.364 30.235
30 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 183.333 30.24
31 30 David Stremme Toyota 183.037 30.289
32 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 182.886 30.314
33 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 182.759 30.335
34 249 Jason Leffler Toyota 182.675 30.349
35 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 182.627 30.357
36 195 Scott Speed Ford 182.549 30.37
37 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 182.38 30.398
38 191 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 182.189 30.43
39 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 182.141 30.438
40 83 Landon Cassill+ Toyota 181.224 30.592
41 93 Travis Kvapil+ Toyota 180.527 30.71
42 32 T.J. Bell+ Ford 180.457 30.722
43 37 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 182.069 30.45

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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