Gordon's Martinsville pole
It's Martinsville, it's Friday, and it's Jeff Gordon, once again. In what has become a rite of spring in southern Virginia, Gordon easily won the pole for Sunday's Advance Auto Parts 500 at the quaint Martinsville Speedway
Gordon, fastest in practice by nearly 1mph, circled NASCAR's smallest oval (at just 0.526-miles) in 20.252sec (93.502mph) to capture the coveted front spot for Sunday's 500-lap contest. The pole-winner gets first choice of pit, which is critical, what with Martinsville's cramped, j-shaped pit lane.
Gordon won his third pole in a row here, fourth straight for a spring race at this place, and fifth of his career - all coming in races since 2001. This is Gordon's first pole of the season and first since last fall at Martinsville.
The four-time Cup champion beat Jamie McMurray, who was timed at 20.309 (93.240) around the flat circuit. Ryan Newman, already three-time pole-winner this year, was third, with Dale Earnhardt Jr fourth and Kevin Harvick fifth.
Virginian Ward Burton, shaken but otherwise unhurt in a rollover road accident this week, was sixth, with Kurt Busch seventh, Jimmie Johnson eighth, Virginian Elliott Sadler ninth and Jeremy Mayfield 10th. Season sensation Kasey Kahne, in his first visit to the track, was 15th, and defending Cup champ Matt Kenseth was his usual 29th.
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