By NASCAR.com

Rookie Patrick Carpentier grabbed his first Sprint Cup pole Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The Canadian driver, whose last pole came in a Champ Car in 2004 on the road course in Laguna Seca, Calif., was among the drivers who had to wait out a nearly two-hour rain delay before getting a shot at qualifying for Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301.

"It's amazing,'' said Carpentier, who took his first pole on an oval track with a fast lap was 129.776 mph. "The car was great. We made a couple of changes from this morning and the car just rotated beautifully through the middle of the corner. It was just stuck on the track. I'm real happy.

"Honestly, if I had won the first pole on a road course I wouldn't be as happy,'' he added. "I want to do well on the ovals because that is where they do most the racing in this series.''


More details to come on this Sprint Cup qualifying session, on Auto123.com.