Gordon takes Martinsville pole
| By Diego Mejia |
Friday, March 28th 2008, 23:02 GMT |
 Jeff Gordon scored his second pole position of the season in qualifying for the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway today.
Gordon took his seventh pole at the half-mile oval after setting a lap time of 19.666 seconds at an average speed of 96.288 mph, which was more than a tenth of a second faster than Danny Hamlin's effort.
"I'll be honest with you, it impressed me to run that kind of lap time," Gordon said. "We have been on poles here before and in those runs, you will hit one end of the race track or one section of the race track really good. But it is rare that you ever can put the whole lap together at both ends."
Hamlin, who was on pole at Martinsville a year ago, and lost victory recently at Bristol with a fuel pick up problem in the closing laps, underlined his speed on the short tracks taking the outside spot of the front row of the grid, although he felt there was more in store on his first lap.
"It was a good lap for us," Hamlin said. "Obviously, we were really good in practice we felt like and had some room for adjustment there. I missed my marks on my first lap and that typically was about one-tenth faster than what our second laps were. I felt like we were good."
Aric Almirola, who makes only his second start of the year replacing Mark Martin at the wheel of the No. 8 DEI Chevrolet, took an impressive third on the grid. Roush Fenway's David Ragan was the fastest Ford qualifier, behind him in fourth.
Jamie McMurray was the quickest driver of those having to qualify on speed for Sunday's race, posting the fifth best lap of the session, nearly a tenth and a half off from Gordon's benchmark.
Jimmie Johnson, winner of the last three Sprint Cup series events held at Martinsville qualified tenth, just behind the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas of points leader Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart.
Sam Hornish Jr was the fastest rookie qualifier taking 26th on the grid for Sunday. He said he was frustrated by how much he had to wait for the front end of his car to bite in the middle of the corner, so that he could put the power down on the exit.
"The second lap I thought we were much better, just got back to the throttle a little bit too soon and got loose coming off the corner," he said. "Martinsville has been one of my favourite places to come to so far of the places I've been and I just continue to learn as much as I can. I wish I would have waited on it a little bit longer."
Patrick Carpentier made the field for his first race at Martinsville, while Dario Franchitti had a nerve-wracking afternoon, as he was the last car in line to complete his two qualifying laps. In the end it was a happy ending day for the Scot, who will be in the field on Sunday.
"It reminds me of my first Indianapolis 500 qualifying," Franchitti said. "That's what it's like every week. You're up against the best in the business here and unfortunately we're learning right now. It makes it tough but we're in so that's great."
Kyle Petty, John Andretti, Tony Raines and Joe Nemechek were the four entrants who failed to qualify in the tightest grid of the year, with the 43-car field was covered by less than half a second.
Pos Driver Car Time Gap Speed
1. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 19.666 154.957
2. Denny Hamlin Toyota 19.775 +0.109 154.103
3. Aric Almirola Chevrolet 19.780 +0.114 154.064
4. David Ragan Ford 19.814 +0.148 153.800
5. Jamie McMurray Ford 19.830 +0.164 153.676
6. Kasey Kahne Dodge 19.831 +0.165 153.668
7. Ken Schrader Toyota 19.836 +0.170 153.629
8. Kyle Busch Toyota 19.860 +0.194 153.444
9. Tony Stewart Toyota 19.876 +0.210 153.320
10. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 19.888 +0.222 153.228
11. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 19.889 +0.223 153.220
12. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 19.889 +0.223 153.220
13. Ryan Newman Dodge 19.916 +0.250 153.012
14. Travis Kvapil Ford 19.920 +0.254 152.981
15. David Reutimann Toyota 19.925 +0.259 152.943
16. Michael Waltrip Toyota 19.926 +0.260 152.935
17. Bill Elliott Ford 19.943 +0.277 152.805
18. Dave Blaney Toyota 19.959 +0.293 152.683
19. Greg Biffle Ford 19.960 +0.294 152.675
20. Kurt Busch Dodge 19.968 +0.302 152.614
21. David Gilliland Ford 19.968 +0.302 152.614
22. D.Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 19.981 +0.315 152.514
23. J.J. Yeley Toyota 19.993 +0.327 152.423
24. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 20.009 +0.343 152.301
25. Elliott Sadler Dodge 20.009 +0.343 152.301
26. Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 20.009 +0.343 152.301
27. Carl Edwards Ford 20.017 +0.351 152.240
28. Matt Kenseth Ford 20.018 +0.352 152.232
29. J.P.Montoya Dodge 20.018 +0.352 152.232
30. Mike Skinner Toyota 20.025 +0.359 152.179
31. Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet 20.029 +0.363 152.149
32. Bobby Labonte Dodge 20.030 +0.364 152.141
33. Regan Smith Chevrolet 20.041 +0.375 152.058
34. Michael McDowell Toyota 20.058 +0.392 151.929
35. Paul Menard Chevrolet 20.066 +0.400 151.868
36. Scott Riggs Chevrolet 20.078 +0.412 151.778
37. P.Carpentier Dodge 20.081 +0.415 151.755
38. Reed Sorenson Dodge 20.115 +0.449 151.498
39. Dario Franchitti Dodge 20.128 +0.462 151.401
40. Kyle Petty Dodge 20.128 +0.462 151.401
41. Casey Mears Chevrolet 20.152 +0.486 151.220
42. Brian Vickers Toyota 20.217 +0.551 150.734
43. Robby Gordon Dodge 20.222 +0.556 150.697
44. Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 20.225 +0.559 150.674
45. John Andretti Chevrolet 20.251 +0.585 150.481
46. Tony Raines Dodge 20.261 +0.595 150.407
47. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 20.311 +0.645 150.036
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