LONG POND, Pa. - Juan Pablo Montoyas contribution to the NASCAR highlight reel so far this season was his crash into a jet dryer in the season-opening Daytona 500. Montoya finally had a bright spot that didnt involve explosions and raging fuel fires. He turned a lap of 176.043 mph Saturday to win the pole at Pocono Raceway. The winless Montoya won his first pole since April 2011 in Richmond, Va. He hasnt won a race since Aug. 8, 2010 at Watkins Glen. The pole was a needed lift for Montoya and his No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team. Hes 21st in the standings and has yet to drive to a top-five finish. He only has two top 10s and has continued a string of mediocre seasons since qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in 2009. Montoya admitted he was "shocked" he beat out Pocono qualifying stars such as Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne to lead the field in Sundays 400- mile race. "We know were working in the right direction, we know were working hard, we feel the cars are getting a little better," Montoya said, "but to go out there and get a pole ... I just went through the hauler and all the engineers, theyre all happy and laughing. Im used to long faces, a lot of long faces, a lot of stressful faces. We needed something like this as a company. This is big for us." Hamlin turned a lap of 175.795 and qualified second. Its his 12th top-10 start in 14 career Pocono races. Paul Menard, Kahne and Marcos Ambrose round out the top five. Points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. starts eighth. Montoya joined NASCAR in 2007 after a successful career in open wheel that included an Indianapolis 500 victory and a Monaco Grand Prix win. His 2009 season where he finished eighth in the standings turned out to be a one-year blip instead of a breakthrough into regular championship contention. His team has undergone massive turnover — including new crew chief Chris Heroy — yet it didnt bring the No. 42 Chevrolet any better results. He hasnt finished better than 21st in any of his last three races and has finished better than 14th only once in his last 11 races. "I think were quite a ways away from as a company where we want to get to," he said. "We want to be able to come every weekend knowing you can beat a Hendrick, beat a Gibbs. Thats our goal." Montoya knows he was as unlikely as any driver to win the pole. "If you told me this morning I was going to be sitting on the pole, Id say, pfff," he said. "I thought we were going to be OK. I thought wed be 12-15. And were sitting on the pole." The trick for Montoya becomes trying to duplicate the strong run on Sunday. Montoya has four career top 10s, including one runner-up finish in 2009, in 11 career starts at Pocono. "I know tomorrow is going to be a reality check," Montoya said. "Im really open-minded about tomorrow. But lets enjoy today." Montoya is the 15th different pole winner in 21 races this season and earned a spot in the 2013 Shootout at Daytona. The first repave at Pocono since 1995 produced record speeds in qualifying for the June race — 36 cars bettered the previous track record. Logano set the track record of 179.598 mph and went on to win the race. With 400 miles of racing and several practice sessions on the track, the speeds werent as fast on Saturday. Logano prepared for qualifying by watching a replay of his second career Cup victory. "I was sitting in the motorhome watching the race tape and Im like, I know who is going to win this race. This is going to be a good one," he said. "Those are more fun to watch." ___ Dan Gelston can be followed at http://twitter.com/apgelston Wholesale Jerseys From China . However, the 25-year-old burner is an intriguing sleeper candidate for fantasy football as he joins a team needing an upgrade at wideout. 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Cheap Jerseys NFL . -- Andrew Luck is getting a full immersion into the NFL.NEWARK, N.J. -- On the eve of his 40th birthday, New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur isnt expecting the Philadelphia Flyers to show up bearing gifts for Game 4. The Flyers cant afford the gesture at this point in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal. They trail 2-1 heading into Sundays game at the Prudential Center, and the margin might easily have been 3-0. Thats how well the Devils have played this series. Theyve slowed down Philadelphias offence with their forecheck while also shutting down a power play that had a big hand in sending Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins home in the previous round. If Brodeur has a concern, its about his own team, which won Game 3 in overtime Thursday night. The Devils relaxed at times in the opening round against the Florida Panthers and cant afford a repeat of that. "Its been like that for our team," Brodeur said Saturday. "When you have a little success you let up a little bit. As we have gotten experience in the playoffs, so far, slowly we are putting things together, two games, three games, four games. Its Game 6 (vs. Florida) through Game 3. This is a lot of games were playing some good hockey. We just have to keep going that way." The Flyers have been good in spurts, but they have struggled against the Devils forechecking. Philadelphia centre Claude Giroux, the leading scorer in the playoffs entering Saturdays play, has been a non-factor the past two games. In a bid to shake things up, coach Peter Laviolette changed lines at practice Saturday. James van Riemsdyk was taken off the left side of Girouxs line and replaced by Scott Hartnell. Van Riemdyk will replace Hartnell on Danny Brieres line. "I think its not a series like Pittsburgh thats more open and theres going to be a lot of goals scored," Giroux said. "I think we need to understand its going to be a close game and if we have to win 1-0, thats good enough." The other change expected in the Flyers lineup is Zac Rinaldo takking over for Sean Couturier (lower-body injury) on the fourth line.dddddddddddd. Couturier was hurt in Game 3. Devils captain Zach Parise said the team has done a good job of not giving the Flyers any cheap goals. However, there are still too many penalties. The Flyers have had 16 power plays in the first three games but only scored twice. They had 12 power-play goals in six games against Pittsburgh. Laviolette thinks his team has made adjustments both in their defensive end and at centre ice against New Jersey, but the Flyers need to push more on the offensive end. "I do think that our team is capable of playing certain parts of that game better than we did. Thats the objective," Laviolette said. "Play a better 60 minutes. More competitive. So emotionally, yeah, better. Offensively, yeah, better. Theres lot of things I think we can do better. Thats our goal in Game 4." The Devils, who like the Flyers took Friday off, didnt change anything for Saturdays roughly one-hour practice. Ilya Kovalchuk, who had a goal and two assists returning to the lineup for Game 3 on Thursday, said the lower-body injury that sidelined him for Game 2 was feeling fine. Off the ice, there were a lot of smiles and confidence in the Devils locker room. "Were in a good spot right now," Parise said. "We feel like we know what is working for us and we have to continue to do that. It was the same with the Florida series. When we played to our strengths we beat them. When we were trying to be fancy and turning the puck over thats when they were beating us. Its pretty simple." Its an opinion Brodeur shares after 18 NHL seasons and three Stanley Cup championships. "Hockey is just a game," said Brodeur, who joked about his age and the fact that backup goaltender Johan Hedberg turned 39 on Saturday. "I dont know why they associate age with it all the time," Brodeur added. "It is what it is. I dont think that extra day makes that big of a difference." ' ' '