NASCAR 2013 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway qualifying results: Record lap gives Ryan Newman Brickyard pole

Indiana native Ryan Newman saved the best for last Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The last of 45 drivers to make a qualifying run for Sunday’s Crown Royal presents the Samuel Deeds 400, Newman stole the pole from Jimmie Johnson with a record-setting lap, touring the iconic 2.5-mile in 47.992 seconds (187.531 mph).

Johnson qualified early in the session, but was beat out when he was .024 seconds slower at 187.438 mph. The five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, who is seeking a record fifth Brickyard win on Sunday, watched as his time stood up to every other driver’s ... until Newman took the track.

The Coors Light Pole Award was the 50th of Newman’s career -- breaking a tie with Bobby Isaac for ninth on the all-time list -- his first at Indy and his first since Sept. 23, 2011 at New Hampshire. The pole comes at an opportune time for the driver nicknamed “Rocket Man,” too, who acknowledged less than three weeks ago that he would lose his ride at Stewart-Haas Racing next year.

Newman and Johnson both broke the previous qualifying record of 186.293 mph, set by Casey Mears in 2004, along with the third- through ninth-place starters on the grid: Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jeff Gordon.

“I’ll admit it was emotional -- for me, especially -- because it was the Brickyard and I hadn’t won a pole here before, and I’ve won so many poles,” Newman said. “It’s been so long since I’ve won a pole -- people ask me if I’ve run out of fuel for the rockets.

“It’s special for me for a lot of reasons: being at home, being in Indiana, being at the Brickyard and being so long not winning a pole. Hopefully, we can turn it into a good day (on Sunday).”

As the pole winner, Newman gets the first pick of pits stalls, and that means pit stall No. 1 closest to the exit from pit road -- a huge bonus for the top qualifier at Indy.

“It’s really big,” Newman said. “This pit road here can lose you a race pretty quick. The boxes are long, but (pit road is) narrow, so having (that stall) is truly an advantage.”

Newman bettered Johnson’s lap through the first and second corners and held on through Turns 3 and 4 to snag the pole.

Crown Royal presents the Samuel Deeds 400 Starting Lineup

1) Ryan Newman

2) Jimmie Johnson

3) Carl Edwards

4) Denny Hamlin

5) Tony Stewart

6) Kurt Busch

7) Kasey Kahne

8) Juan Pablo Montoya

9) Jeff Gordon

10) Marcos Ambrose

11) Joey Logano

12) Brad Keselowski

13) Matt Kenseth

14) AJ Allmendinger

15) Dale Earnhardt Jr.

16) Jeff Burton

17) Clint Bowyer

18) Jamie McMurray

19) Kyle Busch

20) Austin Dillon

21) Aric Almirola

22) Travis Kvapil

23) Paul Menard

24) Kevin Harvick

25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

26) Mark Martin

27) Greg Biffle

28) Trevor Bayne

29) Landon Cassill

30) Casey Mears

31) David Reutimann

32) Josh Wise

33) Danica Patrick

34) Bobby Labonte

35) Michael McDowell

36) David Ragan

37) David Stremme

38) Martin Truex Jr.

39) JJ Yeley

40) Joe Nemechek

41) Dave Blaney

42) David Gilliland

43) Timmy Hill

DNQ: Mike Bliss, Scott Speed