Gordon wins Daytona 500 pole

Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon has won pole position for the 2015 Daytona 500. With a lap of 201.293 miles per hour, Gordon's #24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet edged out teammate Jimmie Johnson by 0.035 seconds.

Three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camrys rounded out the top-5 with Denny Hamlin 3rd, Matt Kenseth 4th and Kyle Busch fifth.

Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards made it a Gibbs/Hendrick sweep of the top-7 qualifying sixth and seventh respectively. Rookie Ty Dillon was 8th, his brother Austin Dillon 9th, and defending Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt 10th.

For Gordon, it was his 78th Coors Light Pole Award in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and second pole win for the Daytona 500. His lap of 201.293 mph was the fifth-fastest Daytona 500 pole speed ever and fastest since Bill Elliott's record-setting lap in 1987 at 210.364 mph.

The four-time champion previously won the pole for the season-opening race in 1999.

Gordon and Johnson earned the fourth Hendrick Motorsports front row for the Great American Race. Gordon also extended his NASCAR record of 23 consecutive season with a pole.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]The odd-numbered finishers from today's qualifying will start behind Gordon in the first duel race. The even-numbered finishers from today's qualifying will start behind Johnson in the second duel race.

Today was the first time in history that group qualifying was used for the Daytona 500. It consisted of three rounds of knockout qualifying, which whittled the field to 12 drivers for the final round, a five-minute session that ultimately determined today's pole winner.

A red flag came out with 1 minute, 22 seconds remaining in the opening session of qualifying (group 1A) when Reed Sorenson and Clint Bowyer wrecked. Denny Hamlin, J.J. Yeley, Trevor Bayne and Bobby Labonte were also involved in the melee.

Gordon and Johnson's positions for the 57th running of the Great American Race are set. Thursday's Budweiser Duel at Daytona races will determine starting positions 3-32, with the remainder of the field determined by qualifying times and provisionals.

For more on the Daytona 500 see AR1's Daytona 500 Event Summary.

Knock-Out Qualifying Results

Round 3

Round 2

Round 1