Ryan Newman wins NASCAR pole

CONCORD, N.C., Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Ryan Newman won the pole Thursday night for Saturday night's UAW-GM Quality 500, setting a Lowe's Motor Speedway record in the process.

Newman turned in a lap of 28.590 seconds over the 1.5-mile circuit. His speed was 188.877 mph. That broke the track record of 28.869 seconds set by Jimmy Johnson in May.

Kasey Kahne was second quickest, followed by Casey Mears and Scott Riggs.

Kurt Busch, leading the Nextel championship chase with six races to go, qualified 21st. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who trails Busch by 29 points, will start 25th.