LOUDON, N.H. ? Ryan Newman lived up to his billing as a great qualifier, breaking his own track record while winning the pole Friday at New Hampshire International Speedway.

The pole for Sunday’s Sylvania 300 was Newman’s 14th in just 71 Winston Cup starts. That includes a series-high seven this season after he paced the circuit a year ago with six.

Newman turned a fast lap of 133.357 mph on the 1.058-mile oval, breaking his year-old mark of 132.241. Nobody was close, but Newman wasn’t totally happy with his effort.

“My first qualifying lap, I didn’t feel it was as good as it should have been,” he said. “I realized I left a little on the table. I was a little bit worried because I knew the track was cooling off a little as the afternoon went on.”

Despite his misgivings, Newman’s first of two qualifying laps was easily the best among the 47 drivers who made attempts.

“I’ve always said I enjoy qualifying because I get to attack the track one on one,” Newman said when asked what made him such a great qualifier.

Newman also leads the series in wins, coming off his sixth victory last Saturday night at Richmond. The first of his seven career wins came here a year ago.

He’s on a tear that has carried him from 27th in the points after the 11th race of the season to sixth going into Sunday’s event — the 27th of 36 this year.

“I’ve definitely learned a lot since our first win,” Newman said. “It’s not about the track being good to me, it’s about doing good on the track.

“I’ve got as good equipment as there is out there and I just do the best that I can do every time I get in the race car.”

Terry Labonte, a two-time series champion and winner of the Southern 500 earlier this month, also kept his strong run going by taking second place in the 43-car field with a lap of 132.780.

Labonte’s lap also was better than Newman’s former track record, but 0.124 seconds slower than the pole winner’s time.

It is Labonte’s fifth top-five qualifying run of the season, including a pole at the May race in Richmond.

“It cooled off a little bit when I went,” Labonte said. “It was probably different for the guys who went at the beginning of qualifying.”

The speeds dropped off considerably after Labonte.

Rookies Jamie McMurray and Greg Biffle were third and fourth at 132.131 and 131.989.

DEI teammates Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were next at 131.906 and 131.870, followed by Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and July race winner Jimmie Johnson at 131.756 and 131.638.

Spencer wins pole for truck race

Loudon, N.H. — Winston Cup driver Jimmy Spencer began his double-duty weekend by winning the pole Friday for the NASCAR Truck Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Spencer beat Brendan Gaughan in qualifying for today’s New Hampshire 200 Craftsman Truck Series race. It is only the second truck race for Spencer, in his 15th year as a Winston Cup driver.

“It’s unbelievable that we didn’t have to hardly do anything to this truck,” he said. “It was actually a little loose, but it was good enough.”

Spencer stepped into the truck ride as an interim driver after Jason Leffler, who won two poles earlier this season, moved into a full-time Winston Cup ride with the Haas CNC team.