Las Vegas NASCAR: Jeff Gordon claims pole for Hendrick
Jeff Gordon claimed the 79th pole of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career in qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The four-time champion - who is effectively retiring at the end of 2015 - put in a record 194.679mph, 27.738-second lap to pip Joey Logano by 0.052s.
The Vegas front row pair have taken all this year's Cup poles so far between them, with Gordon having topped Daytona 500 qualifying and Daytona race winner Logano having followed that result up with an Atlanta pole last week.
Gordon's Hendrick team-mates Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr filled row two behind Logano's Penske Ford.
Ganassi had a strong day, with Kyle Larson topping practice and then Jamie McMurray and Larson leading round two of qualifying.
Larson ended up fifth on the grid, while McMurray qualified 10th.
Reigning champion Kevin Harvick only managed 18th in qualifying.
Organisational changes by NASCAR ensured that there was no repeat of the chaotic technical inspection scenes that resulted in several big names missing qualifying at Atlanta last weekend.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27.738s | - |
| 2 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 27.790s | 0.052s |
| 3 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27.794s | 0.056s |
| 4 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27.822s | 0.084s |
| 5 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 27.841s | 0.103s |
| 6 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 27.888s | 0.150s |
| 7 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 27.906s | 0.168s |
| 8 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 27.923s | 0.185s |
| 9 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27.931s | 0.193s |
| 10 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 27.963s | 0.225s |
| 11 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 28.044s | 0.306s |
| 12 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 28.083s | 0.345s |
| 13 | David Ragan | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.025s | - |
| 14 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.048s | - |
| 15 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 28.056s | - |
| 16 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 28.063s | - |
| 17 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 28.082s | - |
| 18 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 28.084s | - |
| 19 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.157s | - |
| 20 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 28.159s | - |
| 21 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 28.195s | - |
| 22 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 28.222s | - |
| 23 | Brian Scott | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.337s | - |
| 24 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.422s | - |
| 25 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.368s | - |
| 26 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.426s | - |
| 27 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 28.429s | - |
| 28 | Brian Vickers | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 28.448s | - |
| 29 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 28.462s | - |
| 30 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 28.504s | - |
| 31 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 28.518s | - |
| 32 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Ford | 28.524s | - |
| 33 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.537s | - |
| 34 | Regan Smith | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 28.539s | - |
| 35 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 28.571s | - |
| 36 | Brett Moffitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 28.649s | - |
| 37 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 28.865s | - |
| 38 | Cole Whitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 28.948s | - |
| 39 | Josh Wise | Phil Parsons Racing | Ford | 28.970s | - |
| 40 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota | 29.008s | - |
| 41 | Jeb Burton | BK Racing | Toyota | 29.076s | - |
| 42 | Landon Cassill | Hillman Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.441s | - |
| 43 | Brendan Gaughan | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.518s | - |
| 44 | Mike Bliss | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 29.092s | - |
| 45 | Reed Sorenson | RAB Racing | Toyota | 29.201s | - |
| 46 | Travis Kvapil | Team Xtreme Racing | Chevrolet | 29.247s | - |
| 47 | Mike Wallace | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.794s | - |
| 48 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 29.889s | - |
Share Or Save This Story
MotoGP considers reducing riders to one bike from 2027
Top five roles on Motorsport Jobs this week
Mini man moves into Autosport National Rankings contention
Why Ducati has no doubts about Marquez’s future
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments