Qualifying: Gordon grabs pole
Jeff Gordon took his sixth pole position in Friday qualifying for round 21 of the NASCAR Winston Cup series by lapping the New Hampshire oval in 28.915s, just one hundredth of a second ahead of Mark Martin
Gordon currently shares the lead of the championship with Dale Jarrett, but Jarrett finished the day just inside the top 10 in ninth place.
Martin ran Gordon close, but in the end had to settle for the outside spot on the front row. Jeremy Mayfield took third place in his Mobil 1 Racing Ford and finished with a best time of 28.917s, just two thousandths of a second shy of Martin's time.
In fourth place came Bobby Hamilton, closely followed by the Pennzoil Racing Chevrolet of Steve Park. The Fords of Todd Bodine and Robert Pressley were sixth and seventh.
Ken Schrader was the highest placed Pontiac in eighth place and lapped the 1.058-mile track in 29.092s.
Gordon and Martin aside, it was a tough day for the other big guns with Ricky Rudd, who lies third in the championship, finishing 14th while Tony Stewart who took victory at last year's New England 300 wound up a lowly 25th.
Taking over the number 27 Pontiac from Kenny Wallace did not help Mike Bliss any, as he failed to qualify for the third consecutive race.
Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 28.905s
Mark Martin, Ford, 28.915s
Jeremy Mayfield, Ford, 28.917s
Bobby Hamilton, Chevrolet, 29.008s
Steve Park, Chevrolet, 29.068s
Todd Bodine, Ford, 29.071s
Robert Pressley, Ford, 29.076s
Ken Schrader, Pontiac, 29.092s
Dale Jarrett, Ford, 29.097s
Jeff Burton, Ford, 29.110s
Ron Hornaday, Pontiac, 29.112s
Bill Elliott, Dodge, 29.139s
Jimmy Spencer, Ford, 29.141s
Ricky Rudd, Ford, 29.159s
Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 29.169s
Hut Stricklin, Ford, 29.200s
John Andretti, Dodge, 29.228s
Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 29.229s
Rick Mast, Chevrolet, 29.247s
Ricky Craven, Ford, 29.249s
Mike Wallace, Ford, 29.288s
Rusty Wallace, Ford, 29.315s
Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 29.318s
Tony Stewart, Pontiac, 29.329s
Kyle Petty, Dodge, 29.344s
Casey Atwood, Dodge, 29.353s
Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 29.358s
Dale Earnhardt, Jr Chevrolet, 29.369s
Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 29.391s
Ward Burton, Dodge, 29.412s
Kurt Busch, Ford, 29.433s
Elliott Sadler, Ford, 29.447s
Dave Blaney, Dodge, 29.453s
Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 29.467s
Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 29.514s
Sterling Marlin, Dodge, Provisional
Jerry Nadeau, Chevrolet, Provisional
Brett Bodine, Ford, Provisional
Stacy Compton, Dodge, Provisional
Jason Leffler, Dodge, Provisional
Kevin Lepage, Chevrolet, Provisional
Buckshot Jones, Dodge, Provisional
Mike Bliss, Pontiac
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