NASCAR New Hampshire Qualifying SURPRISE **SPOILER**

(from autosport)

NASCAR Sprint Cup rookie Patrick Carpentier scored his maiden series pole position in qualifying for the Lenox Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The Canadian made the most of the improved track conditions thanks to a rain delay that halted the session for nearly two hours after more than half the field had already completed their runs and while points leader Kyle Busch was on the track.

Carpentier, with a lap of 29.349 seconds and an average speed of 129.776 mph, became the first rookie to claim pole for a Sprint Cup race since Denny Hamlin did so at Richmond in 2006.

The Las Vegas resident takes pole in what is just his first stock car race at the one-mile oval.

"It's the biggest thing in my career by far," said an emotional Carpentier, who had a long Champ Car career and also raced in the IRL IndyCar Series before coming to NASCAR. "I want to stay here. I lived in the US for a long time and my kids are born here. We go back and forth to Montreal to the US and this is what I want to do.

"I've always enjoyed it since I've been here, I love driving these cars and I realised I never really enjoyed the other things I did before. For me, that's where I want to be and to get a pole today is the biggest thing in my career because I enjoy driving these things, so that's great."

Bobby Labonte also claimed his best qualifying effort of the year - taking second on the grid for Sunday's race and making it a Dodge one-two in qualifying. He also completed his run following the rain interruption and admitted that the improved track conditions played their part.

"After the rain delay, the track had cooled off so that helped us out," Labonte said. "We were the sixth car on the racetrack after that. I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't think it was going to be that fast with the track conditions what they were, so we're excited to get a good lap in and get a good starting spot."

Kevin Harvick had been quickest in practice and backed that up with his best qualifying effort of the season thus far, although he was caught out with the track conditions following the rain and made slight contact with the wall during his run.

Scott Riggs also claimed his and his team's best starting position of the season with fourth place, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr and Ganassi's Reed Sorenson, who was fastest among the drivers who ran before the rain delay.

Dario Franchitti was another one with reason to celebrate as he earned his best qualifying result of the year with seventh place on the grid, recovering from the disappointment of failing to qualify a week ago at Sonoma.

"I think with it cooling down, it certainly helped," the Scot said. "Our Guitar Hero Dodge has been good all day off the truck this morning. I left a little bit on the table off the corners - the left front (tire) was really getting up in the air.

"I didn't quite know if the car was getting off the corner, so we could have gone a little faster. I happy with today's progress for sure."

Tony Raines and Australian Marcos Ambrose, who was attempting to make his first Cup race on an oval, failed to qualify.

Pos Driver Car Speed Time
1. Patrick Carpentier Dodge 129.776 29.349
2. Bobby Labonte Dodge 129.059 29.512 + 0.163
3. Scott Riggs Chevrolet 128.976 29.531 + 0.182
4. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 128.976 29.531 + 0.182
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 128.885 29.552 + 0.203
6. Reed Sorenson Dodge 128.828 29.565 + 0.216
7. Dario Franchitti Dodge 128.824 29.566 + 0.217
8. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 128.645 29.607 + 0.258
9. Matt Kenseth Ford 128.624 29.612 + 0.263
10. AJ Allmendinger Toyota 128.624 29.612 + 0.263
11. Elliott Sadler Dodge 128.576 29.623 + 0.274
12. Denny Hamlin Toyota 128.498 29.641 + 0.292
13. Jamie McMurray Ford 128.459 29.650 + 0.301
14. Kasey Kahne Dodge 128.424 29.658 + 0.309
15. Greg Biffle Ford 128.415 29.660 + 0.311
16. Ryan Newman Dodge 128.385 29.667 + 0.318
17. Carl Edwards Ford 128.337 29.678 + 0.329
18. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 128.299 29.687 + 0.338
19. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 128.273 29.693 + 0.344
20. Sam Hornish Jr Dodge 128.251 29.698 + 0.349
21. Travis Kvapil Ford 128.117 29.729 + 0.380
22. Robby Gordon Dodge 128.057 29.743 + 0.394
23. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 128.048 29.745 + 0.396
24. Casey Mears Chevrolet 127.984 29.760 + 0.411
25. Regan Smith Chevrolet 127.872 29.786 + 0.437
26. Kurt Busch Dodge 127.859 29.789 + 0.440
27. Kyle Busch Toyota 127.782 29.807 + 0.458
28. Tony Stewart Toyota 127.731 29.819 + 0.470
29. David Reutimann Toyota 127.722 29.821 + 0.472
30. JJ Yeley Toyota 127.662 29.835 + 0.486
31. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 127.649 29.838 + 0.489
32. Juan Montoya Dodge 127.56 29.859 + 0.510
33. David Gilliland Ford 127.444 29.886 + 0.537
34. Terry Labonte Dodge 127.397 29.897 + 0.548
35. David Ragan Ford 127.312 29.917 + 0.568
36. Michael Waltrip Toyota 126.981 29.995 + 0.646
37. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 126.964 29.999 + 0.650
38. Michael McDowell Toyota 126.846 30.027 + 0.678
39. Aric Almirola Chevrolet 126.648 30.074 + 0.725
40. Brian Vickers Toyota 126.572 30.092 + 0.743
41. Dave Blaney Toyota 126.374 30.139 + 0.790
42. Paul Menard Chevrolet 126.148 30.193 + 0.844
43. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 126.391 30.135 + 0.786

Did not qualify: