Dover, Del. ? Ryan Newman solidified his reputation as the fastest driver in NASCAR by winning his fourth pole of the season in qualifying Friday at Dover International Speedway.

It was the second straight top start and 11th overall for Newman, who again leads the Winston Cup circuit after posting a series-best seven last year.

He hustled his Penske Dodge around The Monster Mile in 22.682 seconds, turning a fast lap of 158.716 mph.

“We have lots of horsepower,” Newman said, deferring credit to his crew. “It was a great team effort.

“The car unloaded off the truck very fast, and we didn’t have to do too much with it. I just go out and drive the car for all it’s worth.”

Newman finished fifth after taking the top spot a week ago for the Coca-Cola 600, and will be seeking his second victory this year and third of his career.

Starting second in Sunday’s MBNA 400 will be teammate Rusty Wallace, who turned a lap of 157.322 mph. Neither came close to Wallace’s 1999 track record of 159.964 mph or Bobby Labonte’s event record of 159.320 mph that same year.

Despite his qualifying prowess, Newman has not lived up to expectations after being rookie of the year in 2002 and finishing sixth in the standings. He’s 24th this year, in part because he has failed to finish four times.

But winning the pole after his performance Sunday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway has Newman thinking positively.

“The way our season has been going, it’s just starting to get going,” he said.

Racing on Dover’s high-banked concrete surface adds to that feeling of confidence.

“I like this race track a lot,” Newman said. “And I’m happy to be qualifying well, like we have all season.”

Taking the outside pole was a big step for Wallace as he tries to end the worst slump of his career. Now, if he can covert his starting spot Sunday into his fourth career victory on The Monster Mile, Wallace will end a 74-race losing streak dating to April 2001.

“The cars are absolutely not lacking on performance,” Wallace said. “We were lacking on luck earlier in the year.”

Wallace has always liked racing at Dover, and thought he had a great shot at winning after taking the pole here in September. But he blew a tire.

“I’m really optimistic,” Wallace said. “We’re sure not running slower as the year goes on.

“We’re understanding the Dodge, and we’re getting better and better.”

Jeremy Mayfield gave Dodge the first three spots on the 43-car grid with a lap 157.198.

“That’s good for Dodge,” he said. “We were good off the truck today, and we just kept working on it.”

Although he’s 32nd in the points, Mayfield feels good about the rest of the season.

“Our effort has been really good all year,” he said. “But we’ve had some bad luck — like last week, when we cut a tire and wound up with a 43rd-place finish.”

Points leader Matt Kenseth goes from the fourth spot in a Ford off a lap of 157.006.

Jimmie Johnson, a winner the last two weeks at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, qualified fifth in his bid to join teammate and car owner Jeff Gordon, David Pearson and Wallace as the only drivers to win three straight races at Dover. Johnson went 156.651 in a Chevrolet.

Sterling Marlin starts sixth, followed by Kurt Busch, Terry Labonte, Gordon and Steve Park.