Rookie Patrick Carpentier of Canada grabbed his first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole yesterday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

Carpentier, whose previous 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 the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 tomorrow.

"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. 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."

The rain began while series points leader Kyle Busch, the 24th driver in the 45-car qualifying line, was on the 1-mile oval. He completed one lap that was good for 16th best at that point before officials called him in off the track.

The time trials were delayed for 1:54 before resuming with Busch given a second chance to qualify, this time on a dry track. He was quicker but still wound up 27th overall.

Although the track was very slick and there was little rubber remaining after the rain, several cars were faster than Reed Sorenson, the leader before the rain delay with a speed of 128.828 mph.

Kevin Harvick followed Busch onto the track and, despite nearly hitting the wall on his fast lap, took over the top spot with a lap of 128.976. Bobby Labonte then went out and took the top spot from Harvick with a lap of 129.059.

But it was Carpentier, one of the final drivers to make an attempt, who wound up on top in his 16th Cup race. His best previous Cup start was fourth a month ago at Richmond.

Casey Mears will bid farewell to Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the 2008 season. Now that his long-rumored departure from one of NASCAR's top teams is official, all Mears wants to do is finish the Sprint Cup season strong, showing everyone what might have been.

"It's frustrating to go through these scenarios but, beyond this right here, we're still at the race track," Mears said.

• Greg Biffle reached an agreement on a three-year contract extension with the No. 16 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. The deal includes primary sponsorship by 3M for the next three years.

Andretti Green Racing teammates Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti will start on the front row in the SunTrust Indy Challenge tonight at Richmond International Raceway in Virginia. Kanaan posted a four-lap average of 167.876 mph on the 0.75-mile oval, the shortest run by the series. Andretti's average speed was 167.795 mph. The pole is the 10th of Kanaan's career and second this season. The second row will have Graham Rahal and points leader Scott Dixon.