Gordon leads Hendrick 1-2-3-4 sweep at Talladega
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| Jeff Gordon |
Forget all the early-season talk about the power of Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines and Roush Yates Engines — at least where Saturday's qualifying session at Talladega Superspeedway is concerned.
Paced by a pole-winning effort from six-time Talladega winner Jeff Gordon, who toured the 2.66-mile track in 53.723 seconds (178.248 mph), the power of Hendrick Motorsports engines swept the top four starting spots during time trials for Sunday's Aaron's 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup race, the eighth event of the season.
The Coors Light pole award was Gordon's first of the season, second at Talladega and the 70th of his career, breaking a tie for third all time with Cale Yarborough. Jimmie Johnson (177.844 mph) qualified second, followed by teammates Mark Martin (177.807) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (177.765).
Paul Menard (177.702) nailed down the fifth starting spot, and Landon Cassill, whose Phoenix Racing Chevrolet also sports Hendrick power, qualified sixth at 177.685 mph.
A smaller restrictor plate — with openings of 15/16 inches (down 1/16 inch from the plates run at Talladega last fall) — slowed qualifying speeds to a relative crawl. Gordon's pole speed was more than 6 mph slower than the 184.640 mph Juan Montoya ran last fall.
Lineup
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 178.248 | 53.723 | Leader |
| 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's | 177.844 | 53.845 | -0.122 |
| 3 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | Carquest / GoDaddy.com | 177.807 | 53.856 | -0.133 |
| 4 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | National Guard / Amp Energy | 177.765 | 53.869 | -0.146 |
| 5 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Schrock Cabinetry / Menards | 177.702 | 53.888 | -0.165 |
| 6 | 09 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | Thank A Teacher Today / Security Benefit | 177.685 | 53.893 | -0.170 |
| 7 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS "We Love Logistics" | 177.439 | 53.968 | -0.245 |
| 8 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil-AAA | 177.379 | 53.986 | -0.263 |
| 9 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 177.370 | 53.989 | -0.266 |
| 10 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | BB&T | 177.353 | 53.994 | -0.271 |
| 11 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Good Sam Club / Camping World | 177.353 | 53.994 | -0.271 |
| 12 | 115 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | Aaron's / Auburn National Champions | 177.317 | 54.005 | -0.282 |
| 13 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 177.182 | 54.046 | -0.323 |
| 14 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron's Dream Machine | 177.143 | 54.058 | -0.335 |
| 15 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Bush's Baked Beans | 177.120 | 54.065 | -0.342 |
| 16 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Best Buy | 177.087 | 54.075 | -0.352 |
| 17 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M Scotch-Blue Painter's Tape | 177.074 | 54.079 | -0.356 |
| 18 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 177.061 | 54.083 | -0.360 |
| 19 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 177.032 | 54.092 | -0.369 |
| 20 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 177.005 | 54.100 | -0.377 |
| 21 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Tracker | 176.872 | 54.141 | -0.418 |
| 22 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | NEMCO Motorsports | 176.695 | 54.195 | -0.472 |
| 23 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Haas Automation | 176.659 | 54.206 | -0.483 |
| 24 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Dewalt | 176.575 | 54.232 | -0.509 |
| 25 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Crown Royal Black | 176.519 | 54.249 | -0.526 |
| 26 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 176.477 | 54.262 | -0.539 |
| 27 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Cat Financial | 176.461 | 54.267 | -0.544 |
| 28 | 38 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Long John Silver's / TMone | 176.425 | 54.278 | -0.555 |
| 29 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Office | 176.370 | 54.295 | -0.572 |
| 30 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Mobil 1 | 176.347 | 54.302 | -0.579 |
| 31 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | Red Bull | 176.298 | 54.317 | -0.594 |
| 32 | 97 | Kevin Conway | Toyota | Extenze | 176.195 | 54.349 | -0.626 |
| 33 | 135 | Steve Park | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 176.162 | 54.359 | -0.636 |
| 34 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M's Pretzel | 175.939 | 54.428 | -0.705 |
| 35 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Golden Corral | 175.806 | 54.469 | -0.746 |
| 36 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 175.410 | 54.592 | -0.869 |
| 37 | 71 | Andy Lally* | Ford | Interstate Moving Services | 175.349 | 54.611 | -0.888 |
| 38 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Budweiser | 175.154 | 54.672 | -0.949 |
| 39 | 34 | David Gilliland | Ford | Taco Bell | 175.134 | 54.678 | -0.955 |
| 40 | 13 | Casey Mears+ | Toyota | GEICO | 174.595 | 54.847 | -1.124 |
| 41 | 32 | Terry Labonte+ | Ford | C&J Energy | 174.271 | 54.949 | -1.226 |
| 42 | 7 | Sam Hornish Jr.+ | Dodge | Fast Five / Speed Energy | – | – | – |
| 43 | 46 | Bill Elliott | Chevrolet | Red Line Oil | Champion's Provisional | – | – |
| – | – | DNQ | – | – | – | – | – |
| 44 | 60 | Mike Skinner | Toyota | Big Red | 175.090 | 54.692 | -0.969 |
| 45 | 37 | Tony Raines | Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 175.000 | 54.720 | -0.997 |
| 46 | 66 | Michael McDowell | Toyota | HP Racing LLC | 174.840 | 54.770 | -1.047 |
+ Set by Owner Points