Thursday night marked the return of “Flyin’ Ryan”. Newman won the pole for Sunday night’s longest race of them all – Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

It’s his 1st pole of the season, but it comes less than a week after his “boss” won the All-Star race last Saturday night. Should this surprise anyone? Newman leads all active drivers with 8 poles at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. It’s his 44th pole in 272 Sprint Cup Series races.

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Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman have yet to win the 600-mile race at Lowe’s. Stewart is currently 2nd in the point standings and Newman is 8th. Points matter this weekend.

Kyle Busch qualified 2nd followed by the Hendrick power of Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson.

For the starting line-up, click here.

Cars were on the track during the afternoon for a 90-minute practice session.

Mark Martin was fastest followed by Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Juan Pablo Montoya and Brian Vickers.