Stewart Takes Pole at Martinsville

"We ran basically the same lap that we ran in practice," said Stewart, who has won two other poles at Martinsville - fall 2000 and spring 1999. "I could just tell that I got through the center of the corner better. I was able to still get in the gas at the same point and carry that momentum off the corner and more straightaway speed at the end of the straightaway. It was just a solid lap."

Stewart toured the .526-mile oval in a track record 19.306 seconds with an average speed of 98.083 mph. Stewart's Joe Gibbs Racing teammates - Denny Hamlin and Bobby Labonte - qualified fifth and 10th, respectively. Hamlin clocked a time of 19.355 seconds with an average speed of 97.835 mph, while Labonte timed in at 19.479 seconds with an average speed of 97.212 mph.

Stewart's run shattered the existing track record of 19.513 seconds at 97.043 mph, set last year by Ryan Newman.

This was Stewart's 10th career Bud Pole position in 244 races and his third this season, with his most recent pole coming five races ago at New Hampshire. JGR has now accumulated 36 Nextel Cup pole positions in its 14-year history.

Rounding out the top-five in qualifying were Ricky Rudd (19.324 seconds at 97.992 mph), Rusty Wallace (19.336 seconds at 97.931 mph), Ryan Newman (19.340 seconds at 97.911 mph) and Hamlin.

Forty-nine teams attempted to qualify for the 500-lap race. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Chad Chaffin, Joey McCarthy, Carl Long, Mike Garvey, Morgan Shepherd and Wayne Anderson.

As far as manufacturers went, Stewart's fast lap netted Chevrolet its 13th pole for 2005, with the previous one coming Sept. 17 at New Hampshire International Speedway via Stewart. Ford took the next spot thanks to Rudd, followed by the Dodges of Penske Racing South teammates Wallace and Newman.

The Subway 500 gets underway on Sun., Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. EDT. NBC will carry live coverage of the event.