Gordon takes historic Bristol pole
Jeff Gordon became the first driver in NASCAR history to get pole position with the Car of Tomorrow on Friday in qualifying for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway
The four-times Nextel Cup champion set a lap at 125.453mph with a time of 15.295 seconds in his No. 24 Chevrolet Impala SS, also claiming his second pole position of the year and his fifth at Bristol.
Ironically Gordon has been arguably the driver most critical of the new Car of Tomorrow, which will race for the first time on Sunday.
"I didn't know what to expect from this Car of Tomorrow and I'm surprised to run as fast as we have," Gordon said.
"The car is still a handful and doesn't feel like the current car but you know what? As long as we're fast and we're competitive out there on the racetrack it's all that really matters.
"I'm a little shocked but I'm happy."
Kasey Kahne, who is enjoying having his crew chief back after serving a four-race suspension, was second fastest in his No. 9 Dodge Avenger and will share the front row of the grid with Gordon on Sunday. He was on provisional pole until being edged by Gordon by only seventeen thousands of a second.
Kahne's Evernham Motorsports teammate Elliot Sadler was third ahead of Tony Stewart. The Joe Gibbs driver eclipsed teammate Denny Hamlin, who had dominated testing earlier this month and who ran fastest in official practice.
Hamlin was only tenth fastest in qualifying, improving by a few hundreds of a second from his best time in the morning practice.
Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson enjoyed another good qualifying run. He set a speed of 124.824 mph and will line up sixth beside Jamie McMurray.
Behind them Dave Blaney was the fastest Toyota driver once again, finishing the session seventh with a lap of 124.768mph. His Bill Davis Racing teammate Jeremy Mayfield made the field for the first time this season and will start from 23rd on the grid.
Also making the field were the two Red Bull Camrys of Brian Vickers and A.J. Allmendinger, the latter taking the final spot on the grid to make his first Cup start, despite damaging the right hand side of his car against the wall on his second lap.
By contrast fellow Toyota driver Michael Waltrip had another bad day, failing to qualify for the fourth consecutive time. To add to his misfortune, teammate David Reutimann didn't make the cut either, although the team's third car driven by Dale Jarrett was able to get his place on the grid based on qualifying pace - rather than a past champion's provisional - for the first time this season.
Regan Smith, who replaces points leader Mark Martin in the No. 01 Chevrolet Impala SS, had a solid debut, putting his car 15th on the starting grid as the fastest rookie qualifier.
Meanwhile Juan Pablo Montoya struggled and despite finding more speed in his car in qualifying he only managed to be 39th fastest after brushing the wall.
"[The car] was a little tight and came out of (Turn) four and just scrubbed the top wall," he said. "I didn't know how bad I scrubbed it.
"We're not where we want to be. The car was just too tight and still, I think in a way we could have got a little more on the second lap."
Starting line-up:
Pos Driver Make Speed Time
1. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 125.453 15.295
2. Kasey Kahne Dodge 125.313 15.312 + 0.017
3. Elliott Sadler Dodge 125.183 15.328 + 0.033
4. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 125.117 15.336 + 0.041
5. Jamie McMurray Ford 124.906 15.362 + 0.067
6. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 124.824 15.372 + 0.077
7. Dave Blaney Toyota 124.768 15.379 + 0.084
8. Scott Riggs Dodge 124.759 15.380 + 0.085
9. Jeff Green Chevrolet 124.622 15.397 + 0.102
10. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 124.573 15.403 + 0.108
11. Greg Biffle Ford 124.565 15.404 + 0.109
12. Regan Smith Chevrolet 124.508 15.411 + 0.116
13. Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 124.331 15.433 + 0.138
14. Ward Burton Chevrolet 124.251 15.443 + 0.148
15. Ken Schrader Ford 124.242 15.444 + 0.149
16. Casey Mears Chevrolet 124.202 15.449 + 0.154
17. Tony Raines Chevrolet 124.122 15.459 + 0.164
18. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 123.993 15.475 + 0.180
19. Mike Bliss Dodge 123.969 15.478 + 0.183
20. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 123.913 15.485 + 0.190
21. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 123.890 15.488 + 0.193
22. Ryan Newman Dodge 123.770 15.503 + 0.208
23. Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 123.722 15.509 + 0.214
24. Ricky Rudd Ford 123.714 15.510 + 0.215
25. Brian Vickers Toyota 123.698 15.512 + 0.217
26. Kyle Petty Dodge 123.666 15.516 + 0.221
27. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 123.666 15.516 + 0.221
28. Bobby Labonte Dodge 123.578 15.527 + 0.232
29. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 123.570 15.528 + 0.233
30. Dale Jarrett Toyota 123.324 15.559 + 0.264
31. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 123.269 15.566 + 0.271
32. Carl Edwards Ford 123.253 15.568 + 0.273
33. David Stremme Dodge 123.229 15.571 + 0.276
34. Robby Gordon Ford 123.103 15.587 + 0.292
35. David Gilliland Ford 122.937 15.608 + 0.313
36. Juan Montoya Dodge 122.819 15.623 + 0.328
37. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 122.599 15.651 + 0.356
38. Matt Kenseth Ford 122.521 15.661 + 0.366
39. Reed Sorenson Dodge 122.482 15.666 + 0.371
40. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 122.380 15.679 + 0.384
41. David Ragan Ford 121.520 15.790 + 0.495
42. Kurt Busch Dodge 119.395 16.071 + 0.776
43. A.J. Allmendinger Toyota 122.976 15.603 + 0.308
Did not qualify:
Kevin Lepage Dodge 122.701 15.638 + 0.343
David Reutimann Toyota 122.584 15.653 + 0.358
Michael Waltrip Toyota 122.365 15.681 + 0.386
Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 122.154 15.708 + 0.413
Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 121.497 15.793 + 0.498
Paul Menard Chevrolet 120.702 15.897 + 0.602
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