Jeff Gordon was all smiles when the final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
qualifying attempt was finalized, even though the hand writing was on
the wall that the bottom of the qualifying order favored his remaining
on top top of the speedchart but one never knows who might pull a rabbit
out of a hat.
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Dickies 500 pole winner Jeff Gordon. Photo by Michael C. Johnson.
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"I'm really thrilled. It's a total team effort from the power under the
hood and Hendrick engines to this race car and the total team effort
here at the track today with great communication," smiled Gordon.
Gordon earned his 68th career Cup series pole with a fast lap of 28.255
(191.117 mph) on the Texas Motor Speedway 1.5-mile quad-oval. Gordon
must like the Dallas / Fort Worth area speedway, he won the pole for
the same Fall race last year but in 2009, it has been a dry spell as he
finally notched his first pole this season.
"We started solid. The car felt good. We were able to just fine tune and
keep making adjustments that allowed the car to get better each time
we went out," Gordon said. "At the end of practice we were fourth on
the board and felt pretty close, other than (Clint) Bowyer putting that
big number up in practice, I felt like we had a shot at it. And then we
went out and drew a great number. The track picks up here and the lap
felt really good. I definitely was more aggressive with it and knew we
were going to have to be. And it stuck. But I just didn't know if it was
quite enough. Unless you're wide open all the way around you just never
know if it's going to be enough."
When Kasey Kahne had taken the pole out of the hands of Tony Stewart by
a mere, he also laid down the two at top of the charts, at that time,
truly set the mark to beat and then came this year's winner at the first
of the two Texas races and Gordon nailed it by a margin of 0.021 seconds
faster than Kahne's Dodge.
"It was a really good lap. We made some gains from practice in our
Budweiser Dodge. Everything was perfect there. I felt like I was really
quick in (Turns) 1 and 2, and might have given up just a touch in Turns
3 and 4. It was still a great lap," said Kahne after his qualifying run.
"It should be a top-five, hopefully a pole."
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Kasey Kahne, Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge. Photo by Action Sports Photography.
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Gordon was not without challengers as Ryan "Rocketman" Newman, Clint
Bowyer, 2008 Texas race winner Carl Edwards, David Reutimann, Kurt
Busch and a fist-full or two of other Cup racers who are known for fast
qualifying runs who had yet to make their attempts. However his Hendrick
teammates were done for the day as was Juan Pablo Montoya and Brian
Vickers.
Kurt Busch was the fastest of the remaining drivers but not quick enough
to steal the pole or knock Kahne off the front row. Instead the Penske
Racing Dodge will slot third. Busch laid down a 28.281 (190.941 mph)
which was only five-thousandths off of Kahne's 28.276 (190.941 mph).
"It was an excellent lap. We thought we could do OK, but we exceeded our
expectations by running third," Busch said. "To be three-hundredths of a
second from getting the pole, it makes you scratch your head and think
maybe if I tried a little harder, I would have got it. But then there
are times when you try too hard and you overstep the line and end up
15th to 20th. It's a really, really good lap for us."
Stewart slotted down to fourth with his best time of 28.328 (190.624
mph) in his Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Kyle Busch came in fifth
fastest in the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with his best at 28.343 (190.523
mph). With Edwards sixth fastest at 28.399 (190.148 mph) that placed all
four manufacturers in the top three rows.
Rounding out the top ten were two of Gordon's teammates for the
powerhouse Chevrolet team but the shock was Jimmie Johnson who did not
have a good qualifying run. The points leader for the final 12 aiming
for this year's crown was only 12th fastest, 0.187 seconds off the
pole winning times. Mark Martin slotted seventh on the grid with Dale
Earnhardt Jr. ninth quickest.
Roush Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle will start from eighth, just one row
directly behind his Ford teammate, Edwards. Clint Bowyer in his Richard
Childress Racing will start 10th in his Chevrolet.
Besides Johnson, the Chase leader, out of the top ten in qualifying,
other drivers in the elite dozen in the Chase for the Cup were Vickers
(15th), Montoya (20th), Denny Hamlin (25th) and Newman (26th).
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Jeff Burton, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Photo by Action Sports Photography.
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Jeff Burton had one wild ride in the Cup series practice, damaging his
Richard Childress Chevrolet. After a visit to the infield medical center,
Burton was able to run qualifying the backup car. He did make it into the
field but ended up using an owner points' provisional.
Prior to climbing into the backup Chevrolet, Burton said, "My head
hurts. Just kind of a crappy way to start off. We were really fast
in race trim, I was really happy with the car. It wasn't an error or
anything like that, what we think happened was something with the power
steering. I just couldn't turn it. I wasn't strong enough to turn the
thing. It went straight. It was like it blew a right front tire, but it
didn't blow a right front. I just couldn't get it turned. It missed the
soft wall and hit the back then smacked the front. It dazed me. I'm ok.
My head hurts. I actually feel a lot better than I did two hours ago."
The 34th race of the 2009 season starts at 2:15pm (CST). When the
Dickies 500 concludes, there will remain only two races (Phoenix and
Homestead) before the season ends. If Johnson continues to run hot,
seems normal for the reigning champion in the Chase contest, the
Californian will notch his fourth consecutive series championship;
making history.
There are 11 drivers, no doubt, crossing their fingers that the No. 48
Chevrolet has an very early unfixable mechanical problem. Martin sits
second with Gordon third which puts Rick Hendrick in the best position
to again see one of his drivers take the crown.
