Ryan Newman nailed the pole for the Saturday night Phoenix running of the Sprint Cup Subway Fresh Fit 500.  This is his 43rd pole in 232 starts and his 4th at Phoenix.  Newman also holds the track record for his 2004 qualifying run.  Elliott Sadler grabs the number two position in his best start since  Atlanta in March of 2007.  Further proving that they have the CoT figured out, Carl Edwards grabbed 3rd.  Points leader Jeff Burton is starting way back in the 39th spot.  Dario Franchitti, who you might remember took a verbal beating from team owner Chip Ganassi went from not making the field last week to starting 21st this week.  What a difference a week makes.  Maybe Chip should get into motivational speaking.  The Haas number 70 sans Jeremy Mayfield barely made the pack, starting at 42nd with Johnny Sauter at the wheel. This week, only two cars failed to make the field.  They were the 45 of Kyle Petty and the 34 of John Andretti.  Kyle would have actually made the field but Bill Elliott used the Past Champions Provisional to get his Wood Brothers 21 in the race.  Kyle was the 43rd car with Bill behind him but due to the provisional, Kyle got bumped down to the 44th spot.  It just seems like lately, Petty Enterprises can’t catch a break for anything.  I wonder if it has anything to do with their move over the off season last year to Mooresville from the long-time Petty Enterprises operation that Lee Petty started in 1949 in Level Cross, NC. 

Jeremy Mayfield is looking for a ride after Haas CNC Racing announced today that they were releasing him from the number 70.  Johnny Sauter will be filling the vacancy for Saturday night’s race in Phoenix but Haas is said to be exploring several options for filling the seat permanently.  Haas went on to say that they were "unable to provide him with the right balance, handling and speed he (Jeremy) needed to be successful."  The obligatory best wishes for the future were included as well.  This comes after Mayfield’s 70 had fallen to 36th in owner points after the Samsung 500 last Sunday.  I often wonder if these teams have a big collection of press releases that they just fill the drivers name in and go out and read because, so often, they sound almost identical.

Sad day for me because, I have never been a big fan of Mayfield’s but he is a fellow Kentucky boy so I hate to see it happen.  Hopefully someone will snatch him right up.  This might be a good fit for that fourth RCR team that has yet to name a driver.  Are you listening Richard?

(Photo Credit: Chris Graythen / Getty Images for NASCAR)