Penske sweeps front row

CONCORD -- Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch gave Penske Racing a grip on the front row for the Coca-Cola 600. Now they hope to end Penske's drought at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Newman won his 39th career pole Thursday with a lap at 185.312 mph. Busch, showing no ill effects after getting tangled up with brother Kyle in a wreck during last weekend's Nextel All-Star Challenge race, qualified second at 185.065.

Roger Penske has won 14 Indianapolis 500s as a car owner, and Penske driver Helio Castroneves will be on the Indy pole Sunday. But Penske has never won a race at Charlotte.

Penske was eating dinner in Indianapolis when he got a phone call telling him his drivers will be on the pole for both of Sunday's races.

"We've never done that before. Now we need to win both races," Penske said. "We've come close but never done it."

Newman acknowledges there's pressure to put Penske in Victory Lane.

"He's only been trying here for like 20 years, so, yeah, it would be special," said Newman, who will make his 200th career start Sunday. "It's been something that weighs on the drivers and the teams."

Elliott Sadler qualified third, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth.

Denny Hamlin was sixth, followed by Ricky Rudd, Dave Blaney, Bobby Labonte and David Stremme, giving Dodge five of the top 10 qualifiers.

With the race 100 miles longer than any other NASCAR competition, the pole Sunday night has less significance. The drama involved who would make the field. With 49 drivers entered, six missed the race.

That included Michael Waltrip, who failed to qualify for his 11th straight race after wrecking during his second qualifying lap. Waltrip, who brushed the wall in practice, lost control of his Toyota high on the track in the second turn. He missed hitting the outside wall, but his spinning car slammed the inside wall, ripping off a front tire. The car hit the wall a second time.

"I really struggled hanging on to it," Waltrip told his crew.

Waltrip's teammate, rookie David Reutimann, also crashed and didn't make the field. Jeff Green wrecked in the second turn but will use a provisional to make the race.

Ward Burton, Kevin Lepage, Mike Bliss and Paul Menard failed to make the race.

Teams that qualified later had the advantage as the slippery track cooled.

Newman, going out 34th, ran a clean lap and hopes to jump-start his season. He hasn't won since September 2005.

"We've been in this position before and haven't followed through. Hopefully, the experience will pay off," Newman said.

Busch also used the luck of the qualifying draw, going out next to last.

"Heading out there when it's nice and cool definitely takes some weight off your shoulders," Busch said. "It's great to see the Penske cars 1-2. It gives us a great pit selection, and that's important because of the hard tires."

(AP auto racing writer Mike Harris in Indianapolis contributed to this story.)