Qualified Success for Whiz Kid

R&R--rest; and recreation?

You could have made a half-baked case for “rest” Friday at California Speedway, since afternoon showers delayed qualifying for Sunday’s NAPA Auto Parts 500.

But on a chilly day with gusting winds making for changing track conditions, recreation was scarce. It was all business, once the Winston Cup stock car crowd got down to business, and R&R; stood for rookies and records.

Mike Skinner’s 2-year-old track record of 186.061 mph took a beating, most impressively by Ryan Newman, the newest protege in a long list of racing proteges presented by Roger Penske.

Newman, teammate of Rusty Wallace, the defending race champion, qualified his Ford Taurus at 187.432 mph, knocking rookie Chevy driver Jimmie Johnson of El Cajon off the pole, then withstanding serious challenges by another young gun and the older hands.

When it was finally over, with darkness approaching--actually, it had been fairly dark all afternoon--Ford drivers were the brightest lights. Newman, 24, was on the pole; Kurt Busch, 23 and in his second season, was on the outside of the first row at 187.412 in another Ford, and former series champion Dale Jarrett, a graybeard of 45, was third fastest at 186.853 in still another Ford.

“You’ve got to have performance here,” said Newman, who drove only eight Winston Cup races last season but sat on the pole for one prestigious event, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, N.C. “It’s horsepower, it’s car, it’s downforce, and these weather conditions just maximize everything--the track grip, the tire grip.

“It’s wild, going out there at those speeds. Sometimes you go into the corner a little bit faster than you think you are because of the wind. We gained over a second from practice and you ask [yourself], ‘What do you expect?’ So you have to kind of figure out what you expect and kind of predict the future and it’s hard to do in a race car.”

The cool temperatures stimulated other engines as well and altogether, the first five qualifiers beat the old record. But the shootout was between the rookies, Johnson and Newman.

Johnson had the first shot and made the most of it, qualifying his Rick Hendrick/Jeff Gordon Chevy at the then-record speed of 186.620 and bumping fellow Chevy drivers Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. down a peg.

“When I was sitting on pit road, waiting my turn, I was blown away by how fast everyone was going,” he said. “It’s just amazing what the cold temperature was doing and how much a little bit of speed around the racetrack will equal up to on the track.”

Johnson, the pole sitter at Daytona in February and again last Sunday at Talladega, held the top spot through five challenges, then along came Newman, who posted his record speed on the first of his two qualifying laps over the two-mile track, and had an inkling it was coming as he finished his warmup lap.

“I realized it as soon as I rolled through [turns] 3 and 4 coming to the green flag,” he said. “When the car feels that good, you can push it hard and have the confidence.”

Newman said he had been well aware of Johnson’s speed and took particular pleasure in knocking his fellow rookie off the pole.

“I do pay attention to Jimmie because we’re both in the running for rookie of the year and it’s important to know who your competition is,” he said. “I don’t treat him any different on race day but at the same time, we are running a little race of our own.”

And, he said, barring a drastic weather change, his car would be as strong Sunday as it was Friday.

“Aerodynamics and horsepower are so important here, and those things don’t usually change here from Friday to Sunday. We’ve got a good vehicle package for this track. At some other tracks, that’s not as important as it is here.”

Busch was going out as Newman was coming in and nearly claimed the pole for himself.

“It was a good lap and we came up a little bit shy--four-thousandths of a second,” he said. “There’s not really much you can do to determine what the difference between that was. I may have let the car drift up a little bit too high coming off the corners ... so it may have affected the overall lap.”

Among those impressed with the young speed demons was Jarrett, who didn’t do badly himself.

“They’ve got great race cars and they know what to do with them,” he said. “We know they can go fast, but I wanted to show them that we can still do it too, whenever it comes down to it.”

Jarrett’s qualifying got him a great starting spot in Sunday’s race, but to get it, he had to give up something he’d wanted to do. He’d been scheduled to throw out the first pitch Friday night at the Angels’ game against Toronto but the rain delay scuttled that.

Tony Stewart qualified eighth in the fastest Pontiac, and Casey Atwood was 12th in the fastest Dodge.

Wallace, defending race winner, qualified outside in the fifth row, and Jeff Gordon, defending series champion, qualified 17th and will start inside Row 9. Shawna Robinson, the only woman who tried to qualify, didn’t make the race on her car’s speed but will start last in her Dodge, thanks to a provisional entry based on car owner standings.