LOUDON, N.H. _ A newcomer to NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, Juan Montoya bolstered his chances of winning Sunday's Sylvania 300, the first race in the Chase, by capturing the pole position with a record lap of 133.431 miles per hour.

Montoya, who was quickest in practice (132.485 m.p.h.) toured the 1.058-mile oval here in his No. 42 Target Chevrolet in 28.545 seconds, bettering the track record (28.561 seconds, 133.357 m.p.h.) established by Ryan Newman in 2003.

``It was a good lap, I guess,'' said the non-plussed Montoya, who captured the second pole of his Sprint Cup career, both coming this season, and first in six races at NHMS.

``It was really good,'' Montoya said. ``We really nailed the lap. In practice we were faster and I wasn't too happy with the lap there but I really nailed the lap.''

Montoya knocked Tony Stewart, a two-time Sprint Cup champion and two-time winner at NHMS, from the provisional pole. Stewart wound up second fastest in 132.581 miles per hour in his No. 14 Office Depot Chevy.

``If we qualify good here, we normally race good here,'' Stewart said. ``So I'm pretty excited about today so far. This is the best I have qualified here for a long time.''

Kurt Busch, a three-time winner at NHMS, qualified third fastest in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge in 132.581 m.p.h. while his Penske Racing teammate, David Stremme, was the fastest qualifier among the non-Chase drivers. He was sixth fastest in 131.943.

Scott Speed (27th) was the fastest qualifying rookie in 130.649.

LOUDON, N.H. -- The news Hendrick Motorsports had extended Mark Martin through the 2011 season, with GoDaddy.com as the primary sponsor of his No. 5 Chevrolet beginning next season, shouldn't have come as any great surprise or shock to anyone in the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage area.

As the 50-year-old Martin, the top seed in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, intoned today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, ``Who would want to quit?''

Although he retired and the un-retired from Roush Racing, Martin, who is back in the Chase for the first time since 2006, was a rejuvenated racer when he joined Hendrick Motorsports this season and paired with crew chief Alan Gustafson, a combination that produced 4 wins, 6 poles, 9 top 5s and 14 top 10s in the first 26 races of the regular season.

Just as was the case when he started out in the sport as an impressive 22-year-old wunderkind in 1981, making his first start at North Wilkesboro and winning his first pole three months later at Nashville Fairgrounds, much as been made about Martin's age. But he's grown used to such scrutiny.

``It was kind of a big deal for a 22-year-old to be getting a pole in 1981,'' said Martin, who prolonged his career by becoming a fitness and nutrition buff who tips the scales at a fit and trim 125 pounds. ``Now it's not such a big deal at all, so times are changing. We're talking about almost 30 years ago. The fact that a big deal is being made about my age now doesn't surprise me, because I would expect that no matter who was getting it done, but times have changed and it's lended itself more toward younger drivers.

``Before engineers, before technology infiltrated NASCAR, the driver was the data acquistion and he was very important and he could not do that at 22,'' Martin continued. ``He had to have years under his belt -- many years -- so this sport lends itself some to younger drivers.

``But there's no reason why more guys my age can't be doing what I'm doing.''

Roush Fenway Racing superstar Greg Biffle, defending champion of the SYLVANIA 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, will challenge fans to hit the gas and step into iRacing.com’s NASCAR simulators at Game On! Fenway on Tuesday, Sept. 8 from 1:30-4 p.m.

Aspiring drivers who think they have what it takes to sit behind the wheel of some of the world’s most powerful vehicles, will “race-off” in the same life-like simulators from iRacing that train some of the top competitors on the NASCAR circuit.

Three finalists will have the opportunity to see if they have what it takes to race a professional when they go head-to-head with Biffle to determine an ultimate victor. This event is free and open to the public.

Jeff Gordon said he couldn't put his finger on why Texas Motor Speedway had long been a stumbling point for him. It was one of two tracks, Homestead-Miami Speedway being the other, where he had not visited Victory Lane.

Until, last Sunday, that is.

Gordon earned the 82d victory of his career by ending a 47-race winless drought with his victory last weekend in the Samsung 500. It was Gordon's first trip to Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway after going 0-fer in 16 previous attempts and enabled the driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet to increase his lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers' points to 112 over Jimmie Johnson, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and defending three-time champion, who moved into second place in the points (992).

"It's unbelievable,'' Gordon said yesterday from New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where he participated along with Roush Fenway Racing driver David Ragan, and Penske Racing driver David Stremme in a Goodyear tire test.

"It's still too early to start thinking about the championship," said Gordon, who this season will be looking for his fifth NASCAR title. "But this team is on a roll. I like the way we've been performing all season and it's exciting to go to the track. And to win at Texas, it was unbelievable. Obviously, I'm still on Cloud 9."

For good reason, too. Gordon always seemed to be trailed by a dark cloud when it came to Texas, where he had recorded 3 DNFs, 6 top 5s, and 2 pole positions in his 16 previous starts. Before last Sunday, his best result had been a runner-up finish last Nov. 2.

"I think there were two things we managed to accomplish with our win at Texas,'' said crew chief Steve Letarte, a native of Portland, Maine, who accompanied Gordon to NHMS. "We were able to get a huge burden off of all of us and we were able to get Jeff his first win at Texas. It feels great to give a guy who's won 81 races something new and a win at Texas was something new for him.''

So why had Texas been such a stumbling point for Gordon?

"I still think it's the toughest mile-and-a-half track we go to,'' he said. "The transitions from the banking in the corner to straights are really rough to me, it comes up fast. It's one of the toughest tracks."

What made it even tougher to solve, Gordon said, was that it completely puzzled him when it came time to give his crew any feedback. He struggled with that even as late as last Saturday's final practice.

"I'll tell ya, we were in the hauler doing a debrief and I said to the guys, 'I'll be honest, I don't have anything to add, because I don't have any idea.' When you go to a track and you're scratching your head, you don't know what to expect, but it felt good to go out Sunday and to win it."

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --- Matt Kenseth, winless last year on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit, won in his first race of the 2009 campaign when he was declared the winner of the rain-shortened Daytona 500, with 47 laps remaining in the 51st running of NASCAR's crown jewel event.

"Just to win a race after the year we had last year, I didn't know if we were ever going to do that again," said an emotional Kenseth. "To be able to pull out the Daytona 500 is just unbelievable."

The race was red-flagged at 6:31 p.m. because of rain. Seventeen minutes later, NASCAR officials called the race at 6:48 p.m. It delivered Kenseth, the driver of the No. 17 Dewalt Ford, his first Daytona 500 triumph on the 20th anniversary of Darrell Waltrip's victory in the No. 17 Tide Chevy.

"Ah, man, it's unbelievable," said Kenseth, "I just really got to thank my team, first of all, for all the work they did. I put them in a hole, wrecking on Thursday [in the Gatorade Duel], but they gave me a killer pit stop [for four tires and fuel on Lap 120] when we needed one and it gave us the track position to be in position to win this thing."

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --- Roush Fenway Racing driver Matt Kenseth took the lead from Elliott Sadler just before Aric Almirola's backstretch spinout induced the race's eighth caution on Lap 146.

With 50 laps to go, and a storm clouds rolling in, the running order:

1. Matt Kenseth
2. Kevin Harvick
3. A.J. Allmendinger
4. Clint Bowyer
5. Elliott Sadler

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --- As storm clouds loomed in the west, Kyle Busch led the 51st Daytona 500 at its halfway point. But 24 laps later, Busch, the runaway early leader who had led 83 laps, was out of the race when he got caught up in a 10-car melee on the backstrech of Lap 124.

A sixth caution for debris came out on Lap 118 when David Stremme blew a right rear tire near Turn 4 and came into the pits, spewing debris onto the track.

When the race resumed, Elliott Sadler was in the lead. But a 10-car melee ensued on the backstretch of Lap 124 when the lapped cars of Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr. came together. Vickers had attempted to block Earnhardt and ran the popular driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet below the yellow-line boundary. Earnhardt retaliated by turning his car into Vickers', which sparked a pileup that collected Busch's car.

The leaders:

1. Elliott Sadler
2. Reed Sorenson
3. Matt Kenseth
4. Jeff Burton
5. A.J. Allmendinger

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Joey Logano, the 18-year-old rookie driver from Middletown, Conn., who became the youngest driver in NASCAR history to start the Daytona 500 had his bid to become the youngest winner in the sport's history thwarted when he crashed on Lap 81.

Logano's No. 20 Home Depot Toyota spun as it came off Turn 4, and impacted a retaining wall near the entrance of pit road. It skidded across pit road and came to a rest on the grassy stretch near the tri-oval's dog leg.

Logano emerged unhurt, but his car sustained heavy front-end damage and was done for the day.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Tony Stewart, winner of Saturday's Nationwide Series opener at Daytona International Speedway, went to the front of the 43-car field for the 51st Daytona 500 on Lap 54 after starting the race at the rear.

Stewart, who qualified fifth fastest, went to the rear of the field for the start of the race after he was forced to start a backup car following a practice crash with his teammate Ryan Newman.

Stewart, impressively, made up the difference by charging his way to the front over the next 54 laps.

Joey Logano was running 25th.

After 65 laps, the running order of the top 5:

1. Tony Stewart
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Carl Edwards
5. Kyle Busch

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --- The 51st Daytona 500 was slowed by a planned competition caution on Lap 25, which enabled the field to pit to check their Goodyear Tires.

It was a fortuitous turn of events for Joey Logano, the 18-year-old rookie driver from Middletown, Conn., who had dropped 10 spots to 35th in the span of three laps before the competition caution was unfurled on Lap 25.

While the rest of the field pitted, Logano stayed out on the track with Greg Biffle, which enabled him to gain track position. But Logano forfeited it in order to make a traffic-free stop on pit road. When the race resumed on Lap 28, Logano had dropped to 42d.

The running order with 30 laps complete:

1. Kyle Busch
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Mark Martin

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The 51st Daytona 500 went green just a few minutes ago and pole sitter Martin Truex Jr. led the 43-car field on the first lap. Joey Logano, the 18-year-old rookie driver from Middletown, Conn., was ninth on the first lap.

Mark Martin, the 50-year-old driver who started on the outside pole, took the lead on Lap 2, with Logano dropping two spots to 11th.

Aric Almirola brought out the first caution when he sput out in front of the field as he entered Turn 3 on Lap 8. Almirola emerged unscathed, but pitted along with several of the lead pack runner for four fresh tires.

After 10 laps, here's the running order of the top 5:

1. Kyle Busch
2. Mark Martin
3. Bobby Labonte
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
5. Carl Edwards

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- We've always wondered about that one.

Now we have our answer: It's Tom Cruise...and by a least a couple of inches, it appeared.

When Jeff Gordon was summoned for the driver introductions, Cruise was the second man in the receiving line. Cruise clearly towered over the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion as they exchanged pleasantries.

Cruise, however, was dwarfed by three-time and defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who Cruise treated to a man-hug.

The drivers introductions have been completed. We're about 20 minutes from going green.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --- Red Sox owner John Henry, a principal in the Roush Fenway Racing team which will start five cars in the 51st Daytona 500, has just arrived Daytona.

His private jet, the one with the Red Sox logo on the tail, has just touched down at Daytona International Speedway.

Wonder if he'll have to go to the rear of the field for missing the driver's meeting.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Welcome to Daytona International Speedway, home to the "World Center of Racing," for the 51st presentation of the Daytona 500. Although there were forecasts that predicted at least a 70 percent chance of rain, the sun seems to be poking its way through the clouds.

The stars, those of the Hollywood variety, are shining as well at Daytona.

Just spottedTom Cruise, who has returned to the scene of the crime called "Days of Action," which he filmed here with his ex-wife, Nicole Kidman.

Interestingly, when Cruise was introduced to the crowd as the honorary pace car driver, the Hollywood hunk walked across a stage that was adjacent to a concert stage set up for a pre-race concert by Kidman's current husband, Keith Urban.

Funny thing, there seemed to be more women swooning over the sight of Urban than there were Cruise, who stopped to sign a few autographs for behind-the-rope gawkers before he was whisked away by security.

We're looking good for a green-flag start at 3:30 p.m.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- After going winless last season for the first time in his career, it didn't take Jeff Gordon long to return to Victory Lane, winning the first 150-mile qualifying heat in the Gatorade Duels at Daytona International Speedway.

"Any win is exciting and meaningful to us right now,'' said Gordon, who will start on the second row for Sunday's Daytona 500. "Right now, after feeling the pressure from being winless last year, it just puts a smile on everyone's face. So, however you can get that, it's important. We just have to keep it going."

In the second 150-mile qualifying heat, Kyle Busch a strong last-lap takeover bid by 50-year-old drivear Mark Martin to solidify a second-row spot (in the fourth starting position) alongside Gordon in the 43-car field.

"The biggest thing is you got to mind your Ps and Qs,'' Busch said. "You have to bring the car home. We have practice [Friday]. We have practice Saturday. We have to make sure our car runs good for Sunday.

"I could have rode the last five laps and pushed Mark Martin to the win. I thought that would be a Cinderella story. You would have something to write about. For us to win today, it was all right. It was good. I'm proud of the effort by [crew chief Steve] Addington and all his boys.''

Gordon, who was greeted in Victory Lane by his 20-month-old daughter, Ella Sofia, thanked the Hendrick Motorsports crew of his No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, he thanked one of his associate sponsors, Pepsi, and made a quick plug for one of its in-store promotions.

"Hey, it's been a while since I've been to Victory Lane, so I've got to take advantage of it,'' said Gordon, whose last victory in a NASCAR points-paying race was last October at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Gordon went to the front with two laps to go when he got a huge push from Joey Logano, the 18-year-old rookie driver from Middletown, Conn., and surged past Tony Stewart, the driver Logano replaced in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, for the race lead.

"He did a great job today,'' Gordon said of Logano, who surged from 20th with 11 laps to go in the 60-lap race to second with one lap remaining.. ``He did a really great job of giving us a push that probably helped us win the race.''

Said Logano, "It's a big deal for us and the whole Home Depot team to get out here and finish the race.'' After crashing four laps into the first 25-lap segment of the 75-lap Budweiser Shootout Saturday night, Logano said, "Finishing the race was priority one.''

But when a chance to win it presented itself, Logano took it.

"Once we got up there with only a few to go, I made a last-ditch effort there at the end going into [Turn] 3, hoping someone would go with me,'' said Logano, who got shuffled back in the draft when Stewart passed him for second place. "I figured, I'm that close, might as well go for a win. Overall, I think it was a good day.''

Stewart, as a result, wound up runner-up, Jimmie Johnson was third and Logano fourth.

"It feels fantastic,'' Gordon said. "It doesn't matter if it's a qualifying race or the Daytona 500. Any confidence-builder we can get is only going to be a positive.''

Hollywood was not the only world to mourn the loss of actor Paul Newman, 83, who passed away Saturday from cancer. The world of auto racing also grieved when it learned of Newman's passing. Newman, a champion sports car driver, was also a successful co-owner of the Newman/Haas/Lanigan IndyCar race team.

Tony George, chief executive officer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and founder and CEO of the Indy Racing league, issued the following statement on Newman's passing.

"On behalf of my mother Mari Human George and the entire Hulman-George family at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar Series, our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and loved ones of Paul Newman.

``To all his fans world-wide and those close to him in our racing community, we share a deep sense of loss, but cherish the many fond memories we will forever carry with us."

Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indy 500 winner and co-owner of Rahal Letterman Racing, issued the following statement on behalf of his team.

``We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mr. Newman,'' Rahal said. ``He was a man of great courage, determination and integrity and gave a lot not only to the world of auto racing, but to the world around us. His generosity knew no bounds and his work with helping children as well as what he achieved with aiding the environment will prove to help people for many years to come.”

“I had the pleasure of driving for Mr. Newman in 1981 and I was richer for the experience. He was a man of class and he was also deservedly very highly regarded for his driving skills. The world is a poorer place today for his passing.”

Tony Stewart, a two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion and IRL IndyCar Series champ, also expressed his sadness over the loss.

“Paul Newman was a phenomenal individual who made a profound impact throughout his life,'' Stewart said. ``His acting skills are well-known, but equally impressive was his desire to give back and help those who just didn’t get the same shake out of life that we did.

“I got to know him through our time helping build Victory Junction Gang Camp and during my handful of races in the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona. We connected as racers, but Paul’s ideas of what we should do for charity is what really resonated with me the most.

“He set the bar, not only with his giving, but in how he gave. Whether it was through his own line of food products – Newman’s Own – or his work in helping create the Hole in the Wall Camps, Paul did it right, and he did it with class. He’ll be terribly missed.”

LOUDON, N.H. --- Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Dish Network Turbo HD Ford fielded by Roush Fenway Racing, yesterday snapped a 33-race winless drought by winning Sunday's Sylvania 300, the first race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

Biffle, whose last victory came last September at Kansas Speedway, recorded his 13th Sprint Cup victory of his career after he passed Jimmie Johnson in Turn 3 for the lead with 11 laps remaining. Biffle never relinquished the lead, holding off the two-time and defending Sprint Cup champ to climb six spots to third in the championship points.

``I can't describe it,'' Biffle said. ``I needed a lot of help to get here and all these guys behind me and the engine department, everybody has just given me so much help and support. All of my friends and family at home just kept telling us we could do it.''

Biffle said he held back the reins as long as he could, conserving his brakes and fuel, before making an unbridled gallop to the finish.

``That's what my plan was inside the car -- close us up to Jimmie Johnson and get me a shot at him,'' Biffle said. ``I was a little better than him on that short run. He was a little bit loose and I knew it.''

Carl Edwards, Biffle's Roush Fenway Racing teammate who finished third, wound up vaulting into a first-place tie with Johnson in the championship after points leader finished 34th, 12 laps down.

``Man, I feel like we won this thing just because of how terrible we were in practice,'' Edwards said. ``For us to finish this well and to finish tied [for first] in the points is a good day for us.''

The Top Five:

1. Greg Biffle
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Carl Edwards
4. Jeff Burton
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

LOUDON, N.H. -- The Sylvania 300 was red-flagged with 70 laps to go when a five-car melee in Turns 3 and 4 induced the race's fifth caution period.

Rookie driver Chad McCumbee sparked the accident when he spun in Turn 3 and collected the car of Matt Kenseth, the No. 12 seed in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, sending the Roush Fenway Racing driver hard into the wall. David Gilliland hit Kenseth's car on the driver's side and then was hit from behind by Brian Vickers' car.

Casey Mears, who had never recorded a DNF in his 11 previous starts at NHMS, recorded his first when he flattened the nose of his No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet.

The cars have just re-started their engines and are now rolling on the track, meaning will be going green soon.

The order with 230 laps complete:

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Greg Biffle
3. Carl Edwards
4. Jeff Burton
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Dish Network Turbo HD Ford fielded by Roush Fenway Racing, led Jimmie Johnson by about a half-second with 100 laps to go in Sunday's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The top five:

1. Greg Biffle
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Jeff Burton
5. Carl Edwards

LOUDON -- Riding aboard a blue motorcoach dubbed ``The Straight Talk Express,'' Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, arrived New Hampshire Motor Speedway, accompanied by his wife, Cindy, and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and his wife, Shonda.

NASCAR president Mike Helton introduced Sen. McCain at the driver/crew chief meeting, where he addressed the assembled group of drivers set to drive in today's Sylvania 300 and thanked them for their support of the military, saying, ``You're heroes to them.''

Sen. McCain, whose candidacy was given a huge boost when he won the New Hampshire primary in January, returned to the Granite State no doubt to canvass the NASCAR vote at today's race, where he was scheduled to be introduced during pre-race ceremonies.