CONCORD, N.C. -- NASCAR is confident Ryan Newman and his Penske Racing South team have not cheated while racking up a series-high eight victories this season.

There's been grumbling the past week or so about Newman, who has been able to stretch his fuel much longer than the rest of his competitors in several victories.

"I don't care what the other drivers are saying, we feel very comfortable they are not cheating,'' Winston Cup director John Darby said Saturday. "We just kind of sit back and chuckle at all the accusations.''

Newman started first in the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Saturday night, his series-best eighth pole of the season.

If the No. 12 Dodge team was cheating, it would have to get its practices by Darby and his team of inspectors. But Darby said the post-race inspection process was increased in April to include a thorough tear-down of the fuel cells.

If crew chief Matt Borland was trying something radical, Darby said NASCAR would have caught it during any of the inspections after his victories.

He also said the complaints have been limited to the drivers, and not the crews.

"The crew chiefs are not afraid to speak openly about these things and if they thought there was cheating, I would have a line of them out the door,'' he said. "Instead, they realize they just got beat because they all stand in inspection and see the parts and pieces coming off the No. 12 and know there's nothing illegal there.''