Jeff Gordon wins pole at Dover

Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon backed up his fast practice lap on Friday at Dover International Speedway by taking the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Camping World RV 400 after recording a lap of 157.061 mph in qualifying.

Gordon, who claimed his fourth pole at the high-banked concrete track, edged Dale Earnhardt Inc. driver Mark Martin (157.054 mph) by a thousandth of a second for the top spot. Denny Hamlin (156.515 mph) qualified third, followed by Kurt Busch (156.379 mph) and Greg Biffle (156.284 mph), who won the first Chase race last Sunday at New Hampshire.

Clint Bowyer, David Gilliland, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start from positions 6-10. Cup points leaders Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards earned the 20th and 22nd positions on the grid, respectively.

“This is great to come here and win the pole in the second race in the Chase," Gordon said.

For Mark Martin who qualified second, it was his best start of 2008.

"I have had so much fun driving Tony Gibson's car this year," Martin said. "Certainly a great day today. We are on a mission to get a win with the 8 car."

"Sixth-place in the Chase points Denny Hamlin will start third.

“This is the first race we actually did nothing but qualifying trim" Hamlin said.

“We spent a lot of effort in it and it paid off. That’s good for us."

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