Jeff Gordon claimed pole position for Sunday's eighth round of The Chase for the Sprint Cup at Texas Motor Speedway.
The four-time champion, who won earlier this year at the mile-and-a-half oval, knocked Kasey Kahne from the top of the leader board during Friday's qualifying session, setting a lap of 28.255 seconds at an average speed of 191.117mph, which is a new qualifying record for the current specification of Sprint Cup car at the track.
"It's better late than never," said Gordon about his first pole position of the season, making this the 17th consecutive year for him with at least one pole. "It was a great lap, it felt really, really good. I wasn't sure if it would be good enough, but I'm proud that it ended up on top. We feel like we have a little bit of work to do (for the race). From the last (race trim) simulation the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) was running us down but tomorrow we have something to build on."
Before Gordon set his lap late in the session it had been Kahne who stood as the polesitter, after improving on Tony Stewart's effort. Kurt Busch got close to pole as well, and ended up third. Veteran Mark Martin had been at the top of the timing charts earlier, despite being just the fourth car out to qualify, but ended up seventh.
Kyle Busch claimed his best qualifying result for the past 10 races on his first weekend with new crew chief Dave Rogers, ending up fifth on the grid for Sunday's 500-mile race as he attempts to sweep the three races of the weekend at Texas. The 24-year-old won Friday's Camping World Truck race, and will compete in Saturday's Nationwide Series event as well.
Carl Edwards, the current driver with the most wins at Texas, probably lost pole position when starting his flying lap, getting sideways while exiting Turn 4. He managed to pick up a lot of speed during his run, but still came up short and will line up sixth while trying to win his first race of the year.
Chase contender Greg Biffle was eighth, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer – who led practice earlier in the day – rounded out the top 10.
Points leader Jimmie Johnson only managed 12th, while Juan Pablo Montoya ended up 20th. Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman also struggled and will start back from the 13th row of the grid.
Brad Keselowski will see the green flag wave from 35th on the grid for his Penske debut, while Tony Raines, Dave Blaney, Max Papis and Mike Bliss all failed to make the field.
Pos Driver Make Speed Time
1. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 191.117 28.255
2. Kasey Kahne Dodge 190.975 28.276 + 0.021
3. Kurt Busch Dodge 190.941 28.281 + 0.026
4. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 190.624 28.328 + 0.073
5. Kyle Busch Toyota 190.523 28.343 + 0.088
6. Carl Edwards Ford 190.148 28.399 + 0.144
7. Mark Martin Chevrolet 190.087 28.408 + 0.153
8. Greg Biffle Ford 190.054 28.413 + 0.158
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 189.960 28.427 + 0.172
10. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 189.954 28.428 + 0.173
11. Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 189.900 28.436 + 0.181
12. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 189.860 28.442 + 0.187
13. David Reutimann Toyota 189.820 28.448 + 0.193
14. Joey Logano Toyota 189.800 28.451 + 0.196
15. Brian Vickers Toyota 189.793 28.452 + 0.197
16. David Ragan Ford 189.700 28.466 + 0.211
17. AJ Allmendinger Ford 189.700 28.466 + 0.211
18. Reed Sorenson Dodge 189.593 28.482 + 0.227
19. Marcos Ambrose Toyota 189.587 28.483 + 0.228
20. Juan Montoya Chevrolet 189.407 28.510 + 0.255
21. David Gilliland Toyota 188.950 28.579 + 0.324
22. Jamie McMurray Ford 188.884 28.589 + 0.334
23. Mike Skinner Chevrolet 188.844 28.595 + 0.340
24. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 188.699 28.617 + 0.362
25. Denny Hamlin Toyota 188.686 28.619 + 0.364
26. Ryan Newman Chevrolet 188.646 28.625 + 0.370
27. Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 188.587 28.634 + 0.379
28. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 188.350 28.670 + 0.415
29. Robby Gordon Toyota 188.317 28.675 + 0.420
30. Matt Kenseth Ford 188.304 28.677 + 0.422
31. Scott Speed Toyota 188.016 28.721 + 0.466
32. Regan Smith Chevrolet 187.990 28.725 + 0.470
33. Elliott Sadler Dodge 187.944 28.732 + 0.477
34. Joe Nemechek Toyota 187.820 28.751 + 0.496
35. Brad Keselowski Dodge 187.800 28.754 + 0.499
36. Casey Mears Chevrolet 187.793 28.755 + 0.500
37. Michael McDowell Toyota 187.474 28.804 + 0.549
38. Erik Darnell Ford 187.182 28.849 + 0.594
39. Bill Elliott Ford 187.000 28.877 + 0.622
40. Paul Menard Ford 186.832 28.903 + 0.648
41. Michael Waltrip Toyota 186.438 28.964 + 0.709
42. John Andretti Chevrolet 186.188 29.003 + 0.748
43. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 183.767 29.385 + 1.130