Ryan Newman scores 50th career Cup pole back home in Indiana

Credit: Lisa Janine Cloud/Skirts and Scuffs

Known as "Rocket Man" because of his uncanny ability to put his car on the Sprint Cup pole, Ryan Newman last scored a first-place start in September, 2011. Saturday afternoon he scored his 50th career pole in qualifying for the 20th running of the Brickyard 400.

The native of South Bend, Indiana and Purdue University graduate drew the last slot in qualifying for the Crown Royal Presents The Samuel Deeds 400 at The Brickyard. He set a new track record and knocked defending race winner Jimmie Johnson off the top of the pylon.

Johnson went out 11th and sweated through the rest of the session until Newman wheeled the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevy around Indianapolis Motor Speedway around the narrow track and became the ninth driver to score 50 or more career Cup poles.

"I did miss Turn 2 a little bit on my turning point, and felt like that I made that mistake and then the lap tracker showed that." said Johnson. "But Ryan hit all four corners great and got it done. Happy for him. It's got to be a big day for him, being a hometown boy and all. Very happy for Ryan and very happy for our team."

Newman got teary-eyed over his achievement.

"I got emotional on the backstretch when they told me that. It's special to me because it's Indiana, but it's more special to me because it's the Brickyard, because it's Indy, because of the history of auto racing at this facility." Newman said.
            "So many drivers who are my heroes, so many drivers I've admired, so many drivers that have worked so hard in their career to get to here on this day, to be the fastest one, that's what's themost special to me. Yeah, it's awesome to get that standing ovation from all the Indiana guys and girls that are here.  It does feel like home again in Indiana."

When asked why he hadn't won a pole since September (2011,) Newman said, " Actually I woke up this morning and had a couple chocolate chip cookies and just decided to try harder."

No confirmation on whether they were soda cookies.

Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, and Tony Stewart round out the top five starting positions.

Edwards said, "We brought a brand new car here that everyone worked very hard on, and we were not very good at the beginning of practice.  Everybody worked really hard to get the car right, and we had a great 1 and 2 and not so great at 3 and 4, and I thought I was going to be the most disappointed guy in the place until Ryan ran his lap and I feel bad for Jimmie..."

The race begins at 1 p.m. (ET) with coverage on ESPN beginning at 12 p.m. (ET).

Full starting lineup:

	Rank		Driver	Time	Speed
	1		Ryan Newman	47.992	187.531
	2		Jimmie Johnson	48.016	187.438
	3		Carl Edwards	48.088	187.157
	4		Denny Hamlin	48.097	187.122
	5		Tony Stewart	48.173	186.827
	6		Kurt Busch	48.200	186.722
	7		Kasey Kahne	48.223	186.633
	8		Juan Pablo Montoya	48.248	186.536
	9		Jeff Gordon	48.264	186.474
	10		Marcos Ambrose	48.314	186.281
	11		Joey Logano	48.399	185.954
	12		Brad Keselowski	48.408	185.920
	13		Matt Kenseth	48.442	185.789
	14		A.J. Allmendinger	48.477	185.655
	15		Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	48.486	185.621
	16		Jeff Burton	48.531	185.448
	17		Clint Bowyer	48.534	185.437
	18		Jamie McMurray	48.601	185.181
	19		Kyle Busch	48.622	185.101
	20		Austin Dillon	48.659	184.961
	21		Aric Almirola	48.703	184.794
	22		Travis Kvapil	48.734	184.676
	23		Paul Menard	48.742	184.646
	24		Kevin Harvick	48.756	184.593
	25		Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	48.771	184.536
	26		Mark Martin	48.832	184.305
	27		Greg Biffle	48.901	184.045
	28		Trevor Bayne	48.938	183.906
	29		Landon Cassill	48.962	183.816
	30		Casey Mears	48.979	183.752
	31		David Reutimann	49.092	183.329
	32		Josh Wise	49.168	183.046
	33		Danica Patrick	49.197	182.938
	34		Bobby Labonte	49.227	182.826
	35		Michael McDowell	49.229	182.819
	36		David Ragan	49.329	182.448
	37		David Stremme	49.539	181.675	OP
	38		Martin Truex, Jr.	49.577	181.536	OP
	39		J.J. Yeley	49.658	181.240	OP
	40		Joe Nemechek	49.772	180.825	OP
	41		Dave Blaney	50.034	179.878	OP
	42		David Gilliland	50.126	179.548	OP
	43		Timmy Hill	50.344	178.770	OP

DNQ: Mike Bliss, Scott Speed