No mustache, no problem for Jeff Gordon.
After finishing the one and only practice session of the day at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the second position, Gordon earned to right to be one of the final qualifiers for the Sylvania 300.
With Kyle Busch, who won the pole position for the July race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, atop of the speed chart for most of the session, it was down to a handful of cars to knock him off the top spot.
One of those cars was Gordon who turned a lap averaging 134.911 mph around the 1-mile NHMS to take away the top-spot from Busch with one car left to go: Denny Hamlin who was the fastest car in the practice session.
With something appearing to be a miss on the No.11 Toyota, Hamlin was only able to post the 32nd-fastest time which gave Gordon the pole for Sunday’s Sylvania 300.
“This car has been awesome in qualifying trim all day long. What an awesome effort. It felt good, car got off the corner really strong. I though it would be close,” said Gordon following his qualifying lap.
“Kyle (Busch) laid down a heckuva lap—so did Tony (Stewart)—to shoot for.”
The pole marks the first time Gordon has won a pole at NHMS since the 2001 season and the first time the four-time champion has won multiple poles in a season since 2008.
It’s the 72nd carrer pole of Gordon’s career in the Sprint Cup Series and the second pole of the 2012 season for Gordon who also won the pole earlier this season at Talladegea (Ala.) Superspedway.
“Man, I’m so proud. That felt great. To go out and get a pole on a non-restrictor track (Daytona and Talladega), we haven’t done that in a while, feels really good.”
Busch, Tony Stewart, Brian Vickers, and Carl Edwards round out the top-five qualifiers from the qualifying session.
Sprint Cup Series points leader, Brad Keselowski, posted the 15th-fastest time in qualifying.
Failing to qualify for Sunday’s race were;Scott Riggs, Jason Leffler, Jeff Green, and Josh Wise.
Wise originally qualified for the race, however in post-qualifying inspection the No.26 was found to have rear shocks that exceeded NASCAR’s height limit.
David Stremme will take his place in the starting field.
As for the Chase drivers, here’s where the 12 contending for the championship will start Sunday’s race.
Chase Drivers: 1- Jeff Gordon, 3- Tony Stewart, 6- Kasey Kahne, 9- Martin Truex Jr., 12- Clint Bowyer, 13- Greg Biffle, 14- Dale Earnhardt Jr., 15- Brad Keselowski, 16- Kevin Harvick, 20- Jimmie Johnson, 25- Matt Kenseth, 32- Denny Hamlin.
Sylvania 300 Qualifying Results
1: Jeff Gordon
2: Kyle Busch
3: Tony Stewart
4: Brian Vickers
5: Carl Edwards
6: Kasey Kahne
7: Paul Menard
8: Ryan Newman
9: Martin Truex Jr.
10: Dave Blaney (filling in for Sam Hornish Jr.)
11: Jeff Burton
12: Clint Bowyer
13: Greg Biffle
14: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
15: Brad Keselowski
16: Kevin Harvick
17: Bobby Labonte
18: Joey Logano
19: Aric Almirola
20: Jimmie Johnson
21: Marcos Ambrose
22: Regan Smith
23: Kurt Busch
24: Juan Pablo Montoya
25: Matt Kenseth
26: David Ragan
27: Scott Speed
28: Landon Cassill
29: Jamie McMurray
30: Casey Mears
31: Michael McDowell
32: Denny Hamlin
33: Travis Kvapil
34: David Reutimann
35: Reed Sorenson
36: Joe Nemechek
37: David Gilliland
38: Casey Mears
39: Stephen Leicht
40: JJ Yeley
41: Tony Raines
42: Mike Olsen
43: David Stremme
