Jeff Gordon claims NASCAR Sprint Cup pole at Talladega
Jeff Gordon claimed his 71st career pole position in qualifying for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega
Taking an unusual approach to his qualifying run, Gordon was able to beat the session's long-standing benchmark set earlier by Penske's AJ Allmendinger, with a second flying lap of 49.973 seconds, at an average speed of 191.623mph, and was the only driver to break under the 50-second mark.
While drivers usually run the first of two laps on a high line to gain maximum speed and momentum for the second one, which they run on the inside, Gordon took the shortest line on both of them, and was already fourth fastest with his first one.
Gordon's pole means he continues a streak of setting at least one pole position every season for the past 20 years, matching a record set by NASCAR legend David Pearson.
"We need something to boost our morale and some positives because we've had a rough year so far," said Gordon, who ranks 17th in the drivers' standings after nine races.
"We just wanted to try something different in qualifying. We tried it yesterday on the one run that we made. This is a different monster than Daytona and you've got to treat it a little bit different. I just felt we could get up to speed and you don't need to run that high line that takes more time. But I did not expect that good a lap."
Allmendinger's front row starting position is his third consecutive top four result in qualifying for Penske Racing, as he beat the Richard Petty Motorsports Fords of Australian Marcos Ambrose and his team-mate Aric Almirola, who had set the pace in practice in both of Friday's practice sessions.
Hendrick's Kasey Kahne was fifth fastest ahead of points leader Greg Biffle, the best of the Roush Fenway Fords that dominated earlier this year at Daytona, the only other restrictor-plate venue.
Biffle's team-mate Edwards was seventh fastest and will share the fourth row of the grid with reigning champion Tony Stewart, while Michael Waltrip had a solid return behind the wheel of his #55 MWR Toyota with the ninth quickest lap, ahead of the third Roush car of Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth.
Trevor Bayne was the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers in 11th, ahead of Earnhardt Ganassi's Juan Pablo Montoya.
Last year's spring Talladega race winner Jimmie Johnson will see the green flag wave from row 10, beside his Hendrick team-mate Dale Earnhardt Jr, who pushed him to victory a year ago.
JJ Yeley was the only non-qualifier.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
1. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 49.973s
2. AJ Allmendinger Penske Dodge 50.107s + 0.134s
3. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 50.126s + 0.153s
4. Aric Almirola Petty Ford 50.141s + 0.168s
5. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet 50.196s + 0.223s
6. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 50.245s + 0.272s
7. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 50.245s + 0.272s
8. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 50.274s + 0.301s
9. Michael Waltrip Waltrip Toyota 50.335s + 0.362s
10. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford 50.347s + 0.374s
11. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford 50.355s + 0.382s
12. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt-Ganassi Chevrolet 50.363s + 0.390s
13. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 50.381s + 0.408s
14. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 50.383s + 0.410s
15. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 50.411s + 0.438s
16. Josh Wise Front Row Ford 50.411s + 0.438s
17. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 50.425s + 0.452s
18. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 50.436s + 0.463s
19. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 50.454s + 0.481s
20. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 50.457s + 0.484s
21. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota 50.482s + 0.509s
22. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota 50.485s + 0.512s
23. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt-Ganassi Chevrolet 50.506s + 0.533s
24. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota 50.518s + 0.545s
25. Casey Mears Germain Ford 50.539s + 0.566s
26. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 50.572s + 0.599s
27. David Stremme Inception Toyota 50.578s + 0.605s
28. Terry Labonte FAS Lane Ford 50.618s + 0.645s
29. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 50.640s + 0.667s
30. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota 50.647s + 0.674s
31. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 50.653s + 0.680s
32. David Ragan Front Row Ford 50.661s + 0.688s
33. Kurt Busch Phoenix Chevrolet 50.671s + 0.698s
34. David Reutimann Baldwin Chevrolet 50.693s + 0.720s
35. Michael McDowell Parsons Ford 50.766s + 0.793s
36. Bill Elliott NEMCO Toyota 50.890s + 0.917s
37. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 50.933s + 0.960s
38. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 51.038s + 1.065s
39. Robert Richardson Jr R3 Toyota 51.288s + 1.315s
40. Landon Cassill BK Toyota 51.403s + 1.430s
41. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota 51.427s + 1.454s
42. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 51.542s + 1.569s
43. Tony Raines Joe Falk Chevrolet 51.338s + 1.365s
Did not qualify:
JJ Yeley Robinson-Blakeney Toyota 51.402s + 1.429s
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