Newman bounced back Thursday with his 43rd career pole

Winning poles never gets old for Ryan Newman, NASCAR's Rocketman.

Still smarting from the indignity of being penalized 25 points after his fourth-place car was found to be an eighth of an inch too high after last Sunday's race at Texas.

The Daytona 500 winner will start Saturday night's Subway Fresh Fit 500 from the front, a solid chance to get back to Victory Lane.

Newman, who drives for Penske Racing, has won at least one pole in each of his eight seasons in NASCAR and moved into a tie with NASCAR pioneer Buck Baker for 10th on the career qualifying list.

Asked if the thrill of winning poles has lessened over the years, Newman, whose last pole came at Charlotte last October, shook his head and said, `No. It's been a while for me.

"I was really happy. I was as happy after practice as I am now because it's been a while since, even in practice, we were P1 (position one). We've won some poles but we hadn't been P1 in practice. To be P1 in practice and then back it up in qualifying, that shows consistency and I that's a good thing for the race this weekend."

Newman's fast lap on the mile Phoenix oval was 133.457 mph, just 0.045 faster than runner-up Elliott Sadler's 133.412.

"I thought it was a good lap, a bit conservative, but a good lap," Newman said. "Obviously, it wasn't too conservative because it was good enough. I think we've got a good car. It's been a while since we've had a car this good around this racetrack."

Being docked 25 points dropped Newman from eighth to 10th in the standings, but he said that he and the No. 12 Dodge team have put it behind them.

"We learn from our mistakes," he said. "You have to think positive and go forward.

"You never make up points that you lost, but you can make the effort, obviously, to put yourself in position so those points didn't matter," Newman added. "Obviously, we're trying to do that."


Mo: Yeah I saw him won at Michigan International Speedway in 2003
Good Luck Ryan at PIR on Saturday!