Gordon on Phoenix Cup pole
Nextel Cup points leader Jeff Gordon will start from pole position in Saturday's Subway Fresh Fit 500 after emerging fastest during qualifying today at Phoenix International Raceway
Gordon claimed his third pole position of the season but will effectively start first for the fourth time this year, as qualifying for last weekend's race at Texas was rained out and the grid set by the owner points standings.
The four-time Nextel Cup champion set a fastest lap of 27.040 seconds at an average speed of 133.136 mph driving his No. 24 Chevrolet Impala SS.
"Obviously it was a great lap, something I wasn't quite expecting," said Gordon after claiming his 59th career pole position and his third at Phoenix. "The first lap I knew that I couldn't go fast enough to sit on the pole, so I just gave it up."
"I just drove an easy lap heating the brakes and the tyres and everything and then just got a good run out of turn 4, took the white flag and the car did a lot that I wanted it to do.
"I didn't get through [turns] 1 and 2 perfect but man, I got through 3 and 4 better than I've ever gone thorugh there at this track."
Despite being one of the most critical drivers of the Car of Tomorrow, which is being raced again this weekend, Gordon has won pole position for two of the three races where the new car has featured.
Jamie McMurray was sitting on pole before Gordon's run and ended up as the fastest Ford. The Roush Fenway driver was beaten by 0.114 seconds for pole but edged Denny Hamlin by two thousandths of a second.
Scott Riggs will start fourth beside Hamlin, achieving his best qualifying result of the season so far. The Evernham driver was also fastest among those who needed to qualify on time as he currently sits outside the top-35 in the owner points.
Defending champion Jimmie Johnson qualified 5th, ahead of former Phoenix winner Kurt Busch who will start beside him on the third row of the grid. Kevin Harvick, winner of the last two events at Phoenix, qualified behind them in eighth.
Among the drivers making the field on time were Dave Blaney, David Reutimann, Kenny Wallace, Ken Schrader and Ward Burton, while Dale Jarrett took the last place on the grid for the fifth time this season thanks to the past champion's provisional rule.
Juan Pablo Montoya qualified down in 36th for the third time this season, not happy with the balance of his car. "It was okay," Montoya said. "We were really tight through [turns] 3 and 4 so we lost a lot of lap time there but it was okay.
"We were not that fast in practice. We improved a little bit but we're a little disappointed."
Michael Waltrip failed to qualify for the seventh time in eight attempts this season, while another three Toyota drivers did not manage to make the field either.
Red Bull's Brian Vickers and A.J. Allmendinger have packed-up for the weeekend as well as Jeremy Mayfield, John Andretti and Brandon Ash.
Pos Driver Make Speed Time 1. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 133.136 27.040 2. Jamie McMurray Ford 132.577 27.154 +0.114 3. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 132.567 27.156 +0.116 4. Scott Riggs Dodge 132.338 27.203 +0.163 5. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 132.275 27.216 +0.176 6. Kurt Busch Dodge 131.936 27.286 +0.246 7. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 131.67 27.341 +0.301 8. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 131.661 27.343 +0.303 9. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 131.637 27.348 +0.308 10. Kasey Kahne Dodge 131.564 27.363 +0.323 11. Dave Blaney Toyota 131.229 27.433 +0.393 12. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 131.143 27.451 +0.411 13. Casey Mears Chevrolet 131.042 27.472 +0.432 14. Jeff Green Chevrolet 131.033 27.474 +0.434 15. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 131.028 27.475 +0.435 16. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 130.995 27.482 +0.442 17. Matt Kenseth Ford 130.947 27.492 +0.452 18. Greg Biffle Ford 130.842 27.514 +0.474 19. Ryan Newman Dodge 130.828 27.517 +0.477 20. Mark Martin Chevrolet 130.804 27.522 +0.482 21. Elliott Sadler Dodge 130.795 27.524 +0.484 22. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 130.667 27.551 +0.511 23. Tony Raines Chevrolet 130.572 27.571 +0.531 24. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 130.416 27.604 +0.564 25. David Reutimann Toyota 130.406 27.606 +0.566 26. Bobby Labonte Dodge 130.378 27.612 +0.572 27. Reed Sorenson Dodge 130.255 27.638 +0.598 28. Carl Edwards Ford 130.223 27.645 +0.605 29. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 130.204 27.649 +0.609 30. David Gilliland Ford 130.034 27.685 +0.645 31. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 129.753 27.745 +0.705 32. David Ragan Ford 129.72 27.752 +0.712 33. Paul Menard Chevrolet 129.655 27.766 +0.726 34. Ken Schrader Ford 129.636 27.770 +0.730 35. Ward Burton Chevrolet 129.59 27.780 +0.740 36. Juan Montoya Dodge 129.571 27.784 +0.744 37. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 129.459 27.808 +0.768 38. Robby Gordon Ford 129.454 27.809 +0.769 39. Ricky Rudd Ford 129.143 27.876 +0.836 40. Kyle Petty Dodge 129.055 27.895 +0.855 41. David Stremme Dodge 128.963 27.915 +0.875 42. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 128.654 27.982 +0.942 43. Dale Jarrett Toyota Champion's Provisional
Share Or Save This Story
Montoya's memories of a lost rival and rising star
Montoya: Vettel F1 2019 issues more likely technical than mentality
Leclerc reminds ex-Ferrari president di Montezemolo of young Lauda
Hadjar officially disqualified from F1 Miami GP qualifying
Great debate: Will Verstappen quit F1 and should F1 care?
How Antonelli restored Mercedes order in F1 Miami GP qualifying
Verstappen reveals hidden factor in Red Bull’s F1 recovery
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments