Jeff Gordon wins pole in Texas

Jeff Gordon celebrates winning his 67th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Award

Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR

Jeff Gordon took his first pole position at Texas Motor Speedway Friday and the top spot in Sunday's Dickies 500.

"It’s a great start to the weekend," Gordon said. “I’m always optimistic any time we go to any racetrack, whether we’ve been good or bad. As a race team we’re just good enough to overcome anything that tries to tear us down."

“I came in here knowing that we’ve made huge changes and gains with our race package and our cars. The first lap on the track is always the first sign of where you are. The first lap I thought, `Well, this thing feels pretty good, just too tight.’ We kept freeing it up and the car just kept getting faster and faster.

“It’s a fantastic feeling and I’m still pretty shocked we came here and the car felt as good as it has today."

Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top-five qualifiers.

"They’ve given me really good cars the last few weeks and in race trim at the beginning of practice today I thought we had one of the better cars again, so it should be a really good weekend for us," said McMurray, the best-qualifying Ford driver.

Series point leader Jimmie Johnson will start 11th while Carl Edwards, who comes into the weekend 183 behind Johnson in the Chase, was only 16th.

Results