Ryan Newman Wins Pole For Whelen Modified Tour F.W. Webb 100 At New Hampshire Motor Speedway

LOUDON, N.H. – As Ryan Newman rushed from the infield media center at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after his Sprint Cup Series pole-winner’s press conference, he wasn’t all that optimistic he could pull of two for the afternoon.

Surprise. Yes, he the Sprint Cup Series regular even surprised himself.

Newman won the pole in qualifying Friday for Saturday’s Whelen Modified Tour F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

It was Newman’s fifth career Whelen Modified Tour pole, four of which have come in Loudon. The South Bend, Ind. native toured the 1.058-mile oval in 29.475 seconds (129.221 mph).

“I really didn’t expect it to be as fast as it was,” Newman said. “We were tenth in practice and really couldn’t clip off a lap like these other guys did. I’m not sure how much they were drafting or what, but I had some drafts in practice and still couldn’t clip off that lap. I’m really excited. …. It’s fun to come out here and race with guys like [Donny Lia] and all the other guys.”

Newman is looking to bounce back from a rough showing in the July Whelen Modified Tour event at New Hampshire when he set off a multi-car frontstretch wreck that took out a number of contenders.

“I made a mistake here in the first race and got into the back of [Bobby Santos III] and caused a big old mess on the front straightaway,” Newman said. “I have fun racing with them and even I make mistakes and screw up. Hopefully we can have a good clean race [Saturday].”

Donny Lia of Jericho, N.Y. was second fastest in qualifying at 29.508 seconds (129.077 mph). Series points leader Ryan Preece of Berlin will start third after a qualifying lap of 29.528 seconds (128.989 mph).