Jeff Gordon Claims Pole in Michigan
Jeff Gordon qualified last in Michigan today and made the best of it, with a top speed of 189.026 and a time of 38.090. This is his ninth pole of the season, three of which were rain outs, he has an average finish here of 10th, has won twice and has 15 top fives. Another good stat, this season he hasn’t finished worse than 9th, one time, and the rest are top fives with two wins, Phoenix and Talladega. Would be a nice time to get another 10 bonus points, but, in the end, I don’t think it will matter, Tony and Johnson will both come strong, but Gordon has been stronger all year long.
Gordon had to wait a little more than two hours after drawing the last spot in the qualifying line. But the current Nextel Cup points leader said that waiting — as frustrating as it can be — can also be an advantage.
“The biggest thing is you get the opportunity to watch everybody, listen to what they have to say on their radios and talk with your teammates to find out what they think about their qualifying runs,” he explained. “I knew I had to pick up about six-tenths [of a second] from what we ran in practice and I could hardly believe we got it.
“We’ve had a few surprises this year in qualifying, but this is probably the biggest.”
Asked if having Letarte back made the difference, Gordon said, “I think that Steve just brings a little something special. He’s the guy who’s gotten us into the situation, leading the points, winning four races and qualified for the Chase.” Source: Gordon saves the last for best, takes Michigan pole
Here is how they qualified:
1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 189.026 38.090 Leader
2 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 188.684 38.159 -0.069
3 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 188.516 38.193 -0.103
4 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 188.132 38.271 -0.181
5 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 188.024 38.293 -0.203
6 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg’s 187.882 38.322 -0.232
7 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 187.877 38.323 -0.233
8 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Kinko’s 187.373 38.426 -0.336
9 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 187.344 38.432 -0.342
10 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 187.246 38.452 -0.362
11 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 187.042 38.494 -0.404
12 00 David Reutimann* Toyota Dominos.com 186.848 38.534 -0.444
13 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 186.780 38.548 -0.458
14 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 186.746 38.555 -0.465
15 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 186.577 38.590 -0.500
16 49 John Andretti Dodge Paralyzed Veterans of America 186.446 38.617 -0.527
17 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 186.393 38.628 -0.538
18 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 186.239 38.660 -0.570
19 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 186.225 38.663 -0.573
20 40 David Stremme Dodge TUMS 186.215 38.665 -0.575
21 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 186.181 38.672 -0.582
22 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Snickers 186.167 38.675 -0.585
23 21 Bill Elliott Ford Little Debbie 186.124 38.684 -0.594
24 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M’s 185.946 38.721 -0.631
25 6 David Ragan* Ford AAA Insurance 185.888 38.733 -0.643
26 42 Juan Montoya* Dodge Texaco / Havoline 185.807 38.750 -0.660
27 4 Ward Burton Chevrolet Lucas Oil / State Water Heaters 185.591 38.795 -0.705
28 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 185.428 38.829 -0.739
29 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 185.428 38.829 -0.739
30 7 Robby Gordon Ford Jim Beam 185.366 38.842 -0.752
31 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 185.338 38.848 -0.758
32 208 Joe Nemechek Dodge E&M Motorsports 185.319 38.852 -0.762
33 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 185.061 38.906 -0.816
34 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 184.947 38.930 -0.840
35 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 184.800 38.961 -0.871
36 26 Jamie McMurray Ford IRWIN Industrial Tools 184.791 38.963 -0.873
37 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 184.611 39.001 -0.911
38 15 Paul Menard* Chevrolet Sylvania / Menards 184.450 39.035 -0.945
39 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 184.421 39.041 -0.951
40 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Best Buy 184.327 39.061 -0.971
41 70 Johnny Sauter+ Chevrolet Yellow Trans. 183.641 39.207 -1.117
42 45 Chad McCumbee+ Dodge Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil 180.582 39.871 -1.781
43 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Auto Value / Bumper to Bumper – Valvoline 184.672 38.988 -0.898
Did Not Qualify
44 36 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 360 OTC 184.398 39.046 -0.956
45 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS 184.063 39.117 -1.027
46 78 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 183.744 39.185 -1.095
47 37 Kevin Lepage Dodge Front Row Motorsports 183.580 39.220 -1.130
48 84 A.J. Allmendinger* Toyota Red Bull 183.248 39.291 -1.201
Dale Jarret not making it kind of surprises me, he usually runs well here, I guess the big difference for him is the Toyota, but that has been the case all year long. He has won here four times, with 15 top fives and 20 top tens.
