Jeff Gordon wins first pole of 2010

Jeff Gordon celebrates his 69th career Coors Light Pole Award, tying him for third all time with Cale Yarborough

Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

Jeff Gordon stole the spotlight away from his teammate and points leader Jimmie Johnson on Thursday with a superb come-from-behind qualifying effort that earned him his for pole of the season for Saturday’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Rallying for a poor showing in the earlier practice sessions, Gordon paced the 1.5-mile quad oval in 28.192 seconds at 191.544 mph to knock Paul Menard from the top spot and hung on for his 69th career Sprint Cup pole, tying him with Cale Yarborough for third all-time.

Carl Edwards will start second, followed by A.J. Allmendinger, Mark Martin and Menard.

Gordon’s front-row start will be his seventh at Charlotte – where he has five victories including his first career Sprint Cup victory in the 1994 Coca Cola 600 – but his first at the track since 2000.

“This was huge and a huge shock," said Gordon. “I'll be honest. Today, the way it was going, I didn't think we had any shot at this pole.

“We just have not been qualifying good this year and as you mentioned, we haven't qualified this well in Charlotte for 10 years. When it comes to Charlotte we used to qualify so well here but competition and cars and different things change over the years, we just sort of lost our way here."

The momentum couldn’t come at a better time for Gordon – who is fourth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings and in the midst of a 59-race winless drought – and needs all the help he can get if he wants to have any chance of Johnson and stake his claim at his own fifth Sprint Cup title.

“I think that one of the toughest things about this sport is losing confidence, whether it be the team losing confidence in me or me losing confidence in them or the cars or adjustments," said Gordon. “I think the thing I'm the most proud of with this team is that while we haven't won in quite a while, we haven't been like fighting with one another. We're not second-guessing one another, and I think that's what's allowed us to stay in this battle for the championship in the Chase. And I think that if we can get that confidence back, that's what's going to help us win this championship.

“A pole is definitely that little step. A win would be a huge step for us."

Kyle Busch qualified sixth, followed by Reed Sorenson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Elliott Sadler, while Johnson will start 10th – the only other Chase contenders to earn a top-ten starting spot.

Denny Hamlin, currently second in the Chase standings, will start 23rd, just ahead of third-place points man Kevin Harvick in 24th. Fifth-place Tony Stewart will start 29th.

For Edwards, who is 162-points back and seventh place in the Chase standings, a second-place starting spot is proof that his team is far from out of contention, although he would need to step up his game in the final six races to have any shot at catching Johnson.

“Hell yes we’re still in it," said Edwards. “I go out here and race as hard as I can and if we’ve got a mathematical chance of being in it, then we do have a chance. We don’t quit. That’s not what we do. If I gave up with six races to go, I think that would be pretty foolish

“We have got six races left to, you know, to go run the way we know we can run, and if we can maybe reel off a couple of wins and have some top fives and Jimmie can have a little bit of trouble, then, you know, I think can could still be anyone's race."

Among the Chase contenders to qualify outside the top-10 were Kurt Busch, in 15th followed by Matt Kenseth (17th) and Jeff Burton (18th). Clint Bowyer was 20th, followed by Greg Biffle in 22nd.

Six drivers failed to make the field, including Joe Nemechek, Casey Mears, Johnny Sauter, Kevin Conway, Mike Bliss and Jason Leffler.

Lineup

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