Martin On The Pole

At Loudon, N.H., Mark Martin paced Slick 50 300 qualifying at New Hampshire International Speedway, putting his Ford on the pole with a track-record lap of 128.815 mph.

The race, which marks the midpoint of the 31-event NASCAR Winston Cup season, is scheduled for Sunday at 10:15 a.m. PDT (TNN).

Chevrolet drivers Robert Pressley and Joe Nemechek earned the second and third starting positions with laps of 128.212 and 128.048, respectively.

At Elkhart Lake, Wis., Scott Pruett was halfway to the first Indy-car pole of his career after the opening round of qualifying for the Texaco-Havoline 200 at Road America.

On the same 4-mile road course where he wrapped up his SCCA Trans-Am championship last year, Pruett smashed the track qualifying record by covering the circuit at 139.224 mph.

Jacques Villeneuve was in the first session and set the pace at 139.031.

Michael Andretti was third in qualifying for Sunday’s race at 138.598.