Gordon on Texas Cup pole

The four-time champion, who won earlier this year at the mile-and-a-half oval, knocked Kasey Kahne from the top of the leaderboard during Friday's qualifying session, setting a lap of 28.255 seconds at an average speed of 191.117 mph, which is a new qualifying record for the current specification of Sprint Cup car at the track.

"It's better late than never," said Gordon about his first pole position of the season, making this the 17th consecutive year for him with at least one pole.

"It was a great lap, it felt really, really good. I wasn't sure if it would be good enough, but I'm proud that it ended up on top. We feel like we have a little bit of work to do [for the race]. From the last [race trim] simulation the #48 [Jimmie Johnson] was running us down but tomorrow we have something to build on."

Before Gordon set his lap late in the session it had been Kahne who stood as the pole-sitter after improving on Tony Stewart's effort. Kurt Busch got close to pole as well and ended up third. Veteran Mark Martin had been at the top of the timing charts earlier, despite being just the fourth car out to complete his qualifying run, but ended up seventh.

Kyle Busch claimed his best qualifying result for the past ten races on his first weekend with new crew chief Dave Rogers, ending up fifth on the grid for Sunday's 500-mile race as he attempts to sweep the three races of the weekend at Texas. The 24-year-old will compete in Friday's Truck Series race, and Saturday's Nationwide Series event as well.

Carl Edwards, the current driver with most wins at Texas, probably lost pole position when starting his flying lap, getting sideways while exiting Turn 4. He managed to pick up a lot of speed during his run, but still came up short and will line up sixth while trying to win his first race of the year.

Chase contender Greg Biffle was eighth, while Dale Earnhardt Jr and Clint Bowyer - who led practice earlier in the day - rounded out the top ten.

Points leader Jimmie Johnson only managed 12th, while Juan Pablo Montoya ended up 20th. Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman also struggled and will start back from the 13th row of the grid.

Brad Keselowski will see the green flag wave from 35th on the grid on his Penske debut, while Tony Raines, Dave Blaney, Max Papis and Mike Bliss all failed to make the field.

Pos  Driver              Make        Speed     Time
 1.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet   191.117   28.255
 2.  Kasey Kahne         Dodge       190.975   28.276 + 0.021
 3.  Kurt Busch          Dodge       190.941   28.281 + 0.026
 4.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet   190.624   28.328 + 0.073
 5.  Kyle Busch          Toyota      190.523   28.343 + 0.088
 6.  Carl Edwards        Ford        190.148   28.399 + 0.144
 7.  Mark Martin         Chevrolet   190.087   28.408 + 0.153
 8.  Greg Biffle         Ford        190.054   28.413 + 0.158
 9.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet   189.960   28.427 + 0.172
10.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet   189.954   28.428 + 0.173
11.  Sam Hornish Jr      Dodge       189.900   28.436 + 0.181
12.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet   189.860   28.442 + 0.187
13.  David Reutimann     Toyota      189.820   28.448 + 0.193
14.  Joey Logano         Toyota      189.800   28.451 + 0.196
15.  Brian Vickers       Toyota      189.793   28.452 + 0.197
16.  David Ragan         Ford        189.700   28.466 + 0.211
17.  AJ Allmendinger     Ford        189.700   28.466 + 0.211
18.  Reed Sorenson       Dodge       189.593   28.482 + 0.227
19.  Marcos Ambrose      Toyota      189.587   28.483 + 0.228
20.  Juan Montoya        Chevrolet   189.407   28.510 + 0.255
21.  David Gilliland     Toyota      188.950   28.579 + 0.324
22.  Jamie McMurray      Ford        188.884   28.589 + 0.334
23.  Mike Skinner        Chevrolet   188.844   28.595 + 0.340
24.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet   188.699   28.617 + 0.362
25.  Denny Hamlin        Toyota      188.686   28.619 + 0.364
26.  Ryan Newman         Chevrolet   188.646   28.625 + 0.370
27.  Martin Truex Jr     Chevrolet   188.587   28.634 + 0.379
28.  Bobby Labonte       Chevrolet   188.350   28.670 + 0.415
29.  Robby Gordon        Toyota      188.317   28.675 + 0.420
30.  Matt Kenseth        Ford        188.304   28.677 + 0.422
31.  Scott Speed         Toyota      188.016   28.721 + 0.466
32.  Regan Smith         Chevrolet   187.990   28.725 + 0.470
33.  Elliott Sadler      Dodge       187.944   28.732 + 0.477
34.  Joe Nemechek        Toyota      187.820   28.751 + 0.496
35.  Brad Keselowski     Dodge       187.800   28.754 + 0.499
36.  Casey Mears         Chevrolet   187.793   28.755 + 0.500
37.  Michael McDowell    Toyota      187.474   28.804 + 0.549
38.  Erik Darnell        Ford        187.182   28.849 + 0.594
39.  Bill Elliott        Ford        187.000   28.877 + 0.622
40.  Paul Menard         Ford        186.832   28.903 + 0.648
41.  Michael Waltrip     Toyota      186.438   28.964 + 0.709
42.  John Andretti       Chevrolet   186.188   29.003 + 0.748
43.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet   183.767   29.385 + 1.130