Gordon on pole in Chicago

Gordon, who has also won the past two NASCAR Nextel Cup races, has ripped off consecutive poles at Michigan, Sonoma, Daytona, and now at Chicagoland. In Friday's trials, he lapped at record speed putting in a time of 28.886s (186.942mph) to beat super rookie Kasey Kahne by 0.011s.

Johnson is on a streak of form all of his own, winning at Pocono and finishing no worse than fifth in the past four events, which has allowed him to maintain his Nextel Cup points leadm while Hendrick's rookie Vickers seems to be finding his feet and has finished in the top 10 in two of the past three events.

Gordon, however, is approaching the modern-era record for consecutive NASCAR poles. Bill Elliott took four in a row in 1985 while Cale Yarborough won five in a row in 1980, as did Bobby Allison in 1972.

Yet, the streak has implications for the 10-race playoff at the end of the season. "I think Jeff is hitting a peak in the season for himself and his crew," said Johnson. "I think Kahne came out of the box and was the dominant car for a few weeks' stretch. We had our reign at having that title. Now it's Jeff.

"Whoever is peaking in those final 10 is the champion. It may not be the guy who led in the points all year, and it may not be the guy who has the best accumulated points all season. We need to make sure we peak again in the last 10 that really count."

"That's true," Gordon said. "I'm certainly a little concerned with that right now. We needed to get on this kind of streak just to keep ourselves in the top-10 in points. We were sixth and not far out of 10th or 11th. We needed to get on this type of run, but this has kind of exceeded out expectations.

"I want to be on this kind of streak coming to those last 10 races, but I don't think any reason we can't maintain these things. It goes further than good cars, good teamwork. You've got to have the good fortune and good karma. This is what it's going to take to win the championship is what we're doing right now."

Tony Stewart slid in oil and crashed during morning practice, forcing him to use the back-up car. Stewart nevertheless pulled out 10th place in qualifying; his primary car had been no better than 30th in the practice.