Gordon leads Hendrick sweep

The most successful active driver at the 2.66-mile track set a best time of 53.723 seconds at an average speed of 178.248 mph, beating the previous benchmark set by his Hendrick team-mate Mark Martin. Jimmie Johnson then got closest to Gordon's time but the four-time champion edged his old pupil by over a tenth to claim his second pole position ever at Talladega.

With Dale Earnhardt Jr ending up fourth after initially holding pole position, Hendrick Motorsports became only the third team in Cup history to complete a top-four sweep of the grid, the last time being at Fontana in 2005 by Roush Fenway Racing.

"Obviously I didn't have to do a whole lot with it," said Gordon about his lap. "We didn't even make a qualifying run [in practice], just held it wide open and very impressed to see 1-2-3-4 from Hendrick Motorsports. Ironic too, because me and Markhave been working together in practice and he's now right behind me.

"I expect the #48 [Johnson] and #88 [Earnhardt] to work together there nose to tail. It's a great way to get the weekend started."

Richard Childress Racing's Paul Menard was fifth fastest, while Phoenix Racing's rookie Landon Cassill was sixth with a Hendrick engine, ensuring a top-six sweep for Chevrolet.

David Ragan's Ford was best of the rest in seventh for Roush Fenway Racing ahead of the Penske Dodge of Kurt Busch, the Red Bull Toyota of Brian Vickers and the RCR Chevrolet of Clint Bowyer, the most recent winner at the track.

Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne was 11th fastest for Wood Brothers, ahead of Michael Waltrip, the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers, followed by Earnhardt Ganassi's Juan Pablo Montoya.

Mike Skinner, Tony Raines and Michael McDowell failed to qualify, while Robby Gordon's car was driven by Sam Hornish Jr after the Californian failed to make it to Talladega on time on Friday due to the weather. Hornish qualified the car but his times were disallowed after the car failed height checks during inspection.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time     Gap
 1.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           53.723s
 2.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           53.845s  + 0.122s
 3.  Mark Martin         Hendrick Chevrolet           53.856s  + 0.133s
 4.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           53.869s  + 0.146s
 5.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          53.888s  + 0.165s
 6.  Landon Cassill      Phoenix Chevrolet            53.893s  + 0.170s
 7.  David Ragan         Roush Fenway Ford            53.968s  + 0.245s
 8.  Kurt Busch          Penske Dodge                 53.986s  + 0.263s
 9.  Brian Vickers       Red Bull Toyota              53.989s  + 0.266s
10.  Clint Bowyer        Childress Chevrolet          53.994s  + 0.271s
11.  Trevor Bayne        Wood Brothers Ford           53.994s  + 0.271s
12.  Michael Waltrip     Waltrip Toyota               54.005s  + 0.282s
13.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  54.046s  + 0.323s
14.  David Reutimann     Waltrip Toyota               54.058s  + 0.335s
15.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota         54.065s  + 0.342s
16.  AJ Allmendinger     Petty Ford                   54.075s  + 0.352s
17.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            54.079s  + 0.356s
18.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet      54.083s  + 0.360s
19.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                 54.092s  + 0.369s
20.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            54.100s  + 0.377s
21.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  54.141s  + 0.418s
22.  Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                 54.195s  + 0.472s
23.  Ryan Newman         Stewart Haas Chevrolet       54.206s  + 0.483s
24.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   54.232s  + 0.509s
25.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford            54.249s  + 0.526s
26.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               54.262s  + 0.539s
27.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          54.267s  + 0.544s
28.  Travis Kvapil       Front Row Ford               54.278s  + 0.555s
29.  Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                 54.295s  + 0.572s
30.  Tony Stewart        Stewart Haas Chevrolet       54.302s  + 0.579s
31.  Kasey Kahne         Red Bull Toyota              54.317s  + 0.594s
32.  Kevin Conway        NEMCO Toyota                 54.349s  + 0.626s
33.  Steve Park          Baldwin Chevrolet            54.359s  + 0.636s
34.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                 54.428s  + 0.705s
35.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            54.469s  + 0.746s
36.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                 54.592s  + 0.869s
37.  Andy Lally          TRG Chevrolet                54.611s  + 0.888s
38.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          54.672s  + 0.949s
39.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               54.678s  + 0.955s
40.  Casey Mears*        Germain Toyota               54.847s  + 1.124s
41.  Terry Labonte*      FAS Lane Ford                54.949s  + 1.226s
42.  Sam Hornish Jr*     Gordon Dodge                 
43.  Bill Elliott**      Whitney Chevrolet            

Did not qualify:

     Mike Skinner        Germain Toyota               54.692s  + 0.969s
     Tony Raines         Front Row Ford               54.720s  + 0.997s
     Michael McDowell    HP Toyota                    54.770s  + 1.047s

* Qualified via owners' points standings
** Qualified via champion's provisional