FORT WORTH, April 15 -- Ryan Newman almost lost control of his car just before taking the green flag for his qualifying run, and still won another pole.
Newman recovered for a lap of 192.582 mph Friday, earning his 30th pole in 123 career races -- the highest percentage of pole starts (24 percent) in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series. It is his third this season, the fourth time he will start on the front row.
Ryan Newman, left, shares a laugh with Greg Biffle after winning the pole for Sunday's Samsung/RadioShack 500. Biffle will start from the 5th spot.
(L.M. Otero - AP)
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"It wasn't as comfortable as practice. The track heated up quite a bit and made it a handful," Newman said. "I actually about lost control coming to the green flag.
"We slowed up some, but we didn't slow up as much as everybody else."
Newman earned the pole for Sunday's Samsung/RadioShack 500 on his first qualifying lap in his Dodge. Teammates Jeremy Mayfield (192.431) and Kasey Kahne (191.734), the runner-up in Texas last spring, qualified 2-3 in Dodges. Ricky Rudd was fourth for his first top 10 start.
Greg Biffle, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon and 2004 race winner Elliott Sadler rounded out the top eight spots.
One of Newman's 11 career wins came at Texas two years ago. But he finished 39th and 40th his only other two races at the 1 1/2-mile, high-banked track.
