Day of sunshine does Gordon good
Posted on Saturday, November 1, 2008
FORT WORTH — The sun shined down on NASCAR on Friday and Jeff Gordon took full advantage of the chance to qualify for a Sprint Cup race for the first time in a month.
After qualifying was rained out three consecutive weeks, with NASCAR lining up the cars by points, Gordon won the pole for Sunday’s Dickies 500 on the 1. 5-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval. His fast lap of 118. 469 mph relegated early leader Martin Truex Jr. to second at 188. 003 in the 43-car field.
It was the fourth pole of the season for the four-time series champion, as well as the 67 th of his career. But it was Gordon’s first pole in 16 tries at Texas.
“Texas has not been our best track, so this is really good,” said Gordon, whose only lastplace finishes have both been at Texas, including finishing 43 rd here last spring.
“It’s a great start to the weekend,” Gordon noted. “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.”
CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS Hornaday wins, closes in FORT WORTH — Ron Hornaday Jr. won at Texas again, coming from a lap down early for a dominating victory that got him within six points of points leader Johnny Benson with two races to go. Hornaday, caught in the pit on an early stop because of a caution, regained the lead from Kyle Busch on lap 108 of the 147-lap race at Texas Motor Speedway. Benson, who drives for truck owner Bill Davis of Batesville, finished third, nearly 9 seconds behind. But by passing two trucks in the final five laps, Benson retained the points lead in the close championship race — though his margin was trimmed from 31. NASCAR Sprint Cup lineup Dickies 500 After Friday qualifying; race Sunday At Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth Lap length: 1. 5 miles (Car number in parentheses ) 1. (24 ) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 188. 469 2. (1 ) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 188. 003 3. (07 ) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 187. 859 4. (26 ) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 187. 859 5. (88 ) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 187. 748 6. (17 ) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 187. 428. 7. (48 ) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 187. 402 8. (20 ) Tony Stewart, Toyota, 187. 246 9. (41 ) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 187. 175 10. (66 ) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 187. 136 11. (15 ) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 186. 884. 12. (44 ) David Reutimann, Toyota, 186. 677 13. (83 ) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 186. 664 14. (5 ) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 186. 632 15. (55 ) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 186. 554 16. (99 ) Carl Edwards, Ford, 186. 541 17. (11 ) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 186. 509 18. (6 ) David Ragan, Ford, 186. 503 19. (16 ) Greg Biffle, Ford, 186. 490 20. (8 ) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 186. 413 21. (77 ) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 186. 335 22. (7 ) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 186. 316 23. (29 ) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 186. 297 24. (47 ) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 186. 284 25. (01 ) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 186. 207 26. (42 ) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dodge, 186. 162 27. (78 ) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 186. 079 28. (9 ) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 186. 021 29. (18 ) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 185. 778 30. (19 ) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 185. 778 31. (12 ) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 185. 695 32. (96 ) Ken Schrader, Toyota, 185. 695 33. (84 ) Scott Speed, Toyota, 185. 644 34. (38 ) David Gilliland, Ford, 185. 370 35. (43 ) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 185. 141 36. (10 ) A J Allmendinger, Dodge, 184. 881 37. (25 ) Brad Keselowski, Chevrolet, 184. 767 38. (31 ) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 184. 754 39. (21 ) Bill Elliott, Ford, 184. 609 40. (2 ) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 184. 483 41. (22 ) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 184. 300 42. (28 ) Travis Kvapil, Ford, owner points 43. (02 ) Joey Logano, Toyota, 184. 281 FAILED TO QUALIFY 44. (70 ) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 183. 536 45. (40 ) Bryan Clauson, Dodge, 183. 536 46. (45 ) Chad McCumbee, Dodge, 182. 371 47. (13 ) Max Papis, Toyota, 180. 138 48. (08 ) Johnny Sauter, Dodge, 179. 087
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