Gordon on pole at Michigan

Gordon made the most of what could be 'champion's luck', as he was the last driver to complete his run thanks to a good qualifying draw. He ran 0.069 seconds faster than Greg Biffle setting a laptime of 38.090 seconds at an average speed of 189.026 mph.

"It's awesome," Gordon said. "Of course that late draw payed off big time for us. It didn't feel like a pole-winning lap. I knew I was carrying good speed but I just felt like I needed to be on the throttle a lot harder than I was, but it was a great lap."

Gordon will be starting from pole position for the ninth time this year. Three times he has not set pole in qualifying but has started up front due to the session being rained out.

It's also his first pole since his crew chief Steve Letarte was suspended, and comes on the same weekend that sees him back on the pitwall.

"Steve just brings something special," Gordon added. "It could be the slightest little detail, the slightest little bit of communication or just a little bit of confidence and chemistry to help elevate myself and the whole team."

Greg Biffle underlined the threat from Roush Fenway Racing, the team that has won the last two races at Michigan and also the last three at the sister 2-mile California Speedway oval.

He also benefitted from the conditions as Gordon did, Biffle being the second-last car to complete his run. He matched his best qualifying result of the year and will start from the outside pole on Sunday.

Kasey Kahne showed some signs of recovery in what has been a torrid season for the Evernham driver. He sat on provisional pole for most of the session until conditions allowed Biffle and then Gordon to improve on his time.

Bobby Labonte and Elliott Sadler rounded up the top five in a good qualifying session for the Dodge Chargers. Behind them it was all Chevrolets with Kyle Busch in sixth ahead of teammate Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer and DEI's Mark Martin.

Michael Waltrip was the best placed Toyota in 11th and also the fastest among the drivers who needed to qualify on time. He claimed his best qualifying result of the year in his return to the No 55 car and had that complemented by his teammate and employee David Reutimann who was 12th.

"We'll start where we ended up here in the spring, which was pretty decent." Waltrip said. "We think we have a little more power than we had then, and we know we have a little bit more downforce on our bodies. So, I feel pretty optimistic about the race."

Starting behind the two MWR cars will be Carl Edwards, winner at Michigan back in June. He qualified only one spot behind his starting position at the first race of the year at the same venue.

Juan Pablo Montoya will start the race from 26th, and directly sitting behind him will be Kevin Harvick. The pair met today for the first time since their Watkins Glen incident, when NASCAR called them to their hauler. But apparently the issue is far from solved between them.

"Things will happen like that, it's racing and we understand, so it's a shame he [Kevin Harvick] didn't. But other than that I'm good. I had a great week. I played golf and everything," Montoya said.

Jeremy Mayfield, Dale Jarrett and AJ Allmendinger did not qualify their Toyotas. Scott Wimmer and Kevin Lepage won't be starting the race on Sunday either.

Pos  Driver              Car        Time
 1.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet  38.090
 2.  Greg Biffle         Ford       38.159  + 0.069
 3.  Kasey Kahne         Dodge      38.193  + 0.103
 4.  Bobby Labonte       Dodge      38.271  + 0.181
 5.  Elliott Sadler      Dodge      38.293  + 0.203
 6.  Kyle Busch          Chevrolet  38.322  + 0.232
 7.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet  38.323  + 0.233
 8.  Denny Hamlin        Chevrolet  38.426  + 0.336
 9.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet  38.432  + 0.342
10.  Mark Martin         Chevrolet  38.452  + 0.362
11.  Michael Waltrip     Toyota     38.494  + 0.404
12.  David Reutimann     Toyota     38.534  + 0.444
13.  Carl Edwards        Ford       38.548  + 0.458
14.  Martin Truex Jr     Chevrolet  38.555  + 0.465
15.  Kurt Busch          Dodge      38.590  + 0.500
16.  John Andretti       Dodge      38.617  + 0.527
17.  Dave Blaney         Toyota     38.628  + 0.538
18.  Brian Vickers       Toyota     38.660  + 0.570
19.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet  38.663  + 0.573
20.  David Stremme       Dodge      38.665  + 0.575
21.  Matt Kenseth        Ford       38.672  + 0.582
22.  Ricky Rudd          Ford       38.675  + 0.585
23.  Bill Elliott        Ford       38.684  + 0.594
24.  David Gilliland     Ford       38.721  + 0.631
25.  David Ragan         Ford       38.733  + 0.643
26.  Juan Montoya        Dodge      38.750  + 0.660
27.  Ward Burton         Chevrolet  38.795  + 0.705
28.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet  38.829  + 0.739
29.  Casey Mears         Chevrolet  38.829  + 0.739
30.  Robby Gordon        Ford       38.842  + 0.752
31.  J.J. Yeley          Chevrolet  38.848  + 0.758
32.  Joe Nemechek        Dodge      38.852  + 0.762
33.  Reed Sorenson       Dodge      38.906  + 0.816
34.  Ryan Newman         Dodge      38.930  + 0.840
35.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet  38.961  + 0.871
36.  Jamie McMurray      Ford       38.963  + 0.873
37.  Tony Raines         Chevrolet  39.001  + 0.911
38.  Paul Menard         Chevrolet  39.035  + 0.945
39.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet  39.041  + 0.951
40.  Jeff Green          Chevrolet  39.061  + 0.971
41.  Johnny Sauter       Chevrolet  39.207  + 1.117
42.  Chad McCumbee       Dodge      39.871  + 1.781
43.  Scott Riggs         Dodge      38.988  + 0.898