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USAC: Newman captures pole for Knoxville Coors Light Silver Bullet race

3 June 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Defending Coors Light Silver Bullet Champion Ryan Newman of South Bend, Ind. captured the pole starting position for Saturday's "NAPA Hawkeye Hundred" at Knoxville Raceway with his time of 21.375 seconds during Friday's qualifying. He will share the front row with Brad Fox of Avon, Ind. in the 26-car field for the 100-lap race on the 1/2-mile dirt track.

"I'm a little bit surprised," admitted Newman after posting his time. "I lost a power steering pump during practice and only got about 20 minutes on the track. I think my line was a little different from the rest of the drivers and I actually ran some laps in the 20-second bracket, so I knew we were fast."

Saturday night's race will mark the first time the series has competed at Knoxville since 1981 when Rich Vogler was the winner. Vogler, ironically, was also driving for Johnny Vance, who owns Newman's car. Newman's time was just shy of Joe Saldana's record of 21.359 seconds, set in 1981.

Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind. won Friday's 20-lap "qualifying race."

Knoxville, Iowa - Results Friday night (June 2) from qualifications for the June 3 "NAPA Hawkeye Hundred" USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet Series Race at Knoxville Raceway, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown and speed:

1. (1) Ryan Newman, South Bend, Ind., 21.375 seconds, 84.211 mph.
2. (53) Brad Fox, Avon, Ind., 21.381, 84.187.
3. (51) Russ Gamester, Peru, Ind., 21.557, 83.500.
4. (67) Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, Wa., 21.567, 83.461.
5. (9) J.J. Yeley, Phoenix, Ariz., 21.569, 83.453.
6. (46) Donnie Lehmann, Springfield, Ill., 21.607, 83.306.
7. (99) John Heydenreich, Bloomsburg, Pa., 21.740, 82.797.
8. (62) Bill Rose, Plainfield, Ind., 21.743, 82.785.
9. (40) Brad Noffsinger, Concord, N.C., 21.772, 82.675.
10. (11) Jimmy Sills, Placerville, Calif., 21.792, 82.600.
11. (6) Jay Drake, Val Verde, Calif., 21.854, 82.365.
12. (23) Jack Hewitt, Troy, Ohio, 21.862, 82.335.
13. (56) Dave Darland, Kokomo, Ind., 21.876, 82.282.
14. (63) Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, Ohio, 21.889, 82.233.
15. (20) Tony Elliott, Kokomo, Ind., 21.910, 82.154.
16. (50) Jerry Coons, Jr., Tucson, Ariz., 21.912, 82.147.
17. (37) Tracy Hines, New Castle, Ind., 1st in Friday's qualifying race.
18. (80) Robby Flock, Murrieta, Calif., 2nd in Friday's qualifying race.
19. (44) Bud Kaeding, Campbell, Calif., 3rd in Friday's qualifying race.
20. (7) Ed Carpenter, Indianapolis, Ind., 4th in Friday's qualifying race.
21. (69) Brian Tyler, Parma, Mich., 5th in Friday's qualifying race.
22. (153) Tom Capie, Trevose, Pa., 6th in Friday's qualifying race.
23. (175) Brett Hearn, Vernon, N.J., 7th in Friday's qualifying race.
24. (100) Paul White, Temple, Texas, 8th in Friday's qualifying race.
25. (12) Rod Holshouser, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 9th in Friday's qualifying race.
26. (41) Eric Gordon, Indianapolis, Ind., 10th in Friday's qualifying race.

Text provided by Dick Jordan

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