Jeff Gordon wins Talladega pole
Jeff Gordon will start first at Talladega on Sunday.
Gordon got his second Talladega pole of the season and his third restrictor plate pole overall with his qualifying run on Saturday. He started first in the Daytona 500, though we’re not going to say his fast qualifying run Saturday is a good omen. He finished 33rd in the 500 and 31st in the spring Talladega race.
All three of his Hendrick teammates qualified up front too. Kasey Kahne will start second while Jimmie Johnson will start third. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the spring Talladega race, will start fifth.
Seven Chase drivers qualified in the top 12 and made the final round of qualifying. Matt Kenseth starts fourth, Kevin Harvick starts seventh and Denny Hamlin qualified eighth. The Team Penske cars of Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski qualified 10th and 11th respectively.
But as you likely know, qualifying at Talladega can be almost meaningless given the draft and pack racing at the track. So the starting positions are not nearly as important as they are at, say, Texas or Phoenix.
Here’s how the other Chasers fared in qualifying: Kurt Busch will start 14th, Carl Edwards 15th and Kyle Busch was 16th. Ryan Newman starts 18th and Martin Truex Jr. will start at the rear after he went below the yellow line on his qualifying lap. The line violation disqualified Truex’s qualifying time.
– – – – – – –
Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
