Sore Gordon comes back from crash with pole-winning effort

Chris Trotman, Getty/AFP

Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, captured the pole position for the Kobalt Tools 500,

By MIKE HARRIS, Associated Press

Last update: March 7, 2008 - 8:44 PM

HAMPTON, Ga. — Jeff Gordon, bouncing back from a hard crash in Las Vegas, felt a whole lot better Friday night after winning the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

On Sunday, Gordon walked away without injury after bouncing off the car driven by Matt Kenseth and slamming into the wall in a hit that tore apart the front of his car, leaving his radiator sitting steaming on the track.

"I was sore, but none of the soreness affected me in the race car," Gordon said after posting a fast lap of 185.251 mph on the 1.5-mile Atlanta oval, easily faster than the 184.852 of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

After what he called "one of the nastiest wrecks I've ever had," Gordon was able to take part in the Cup test Monday and Tuesday in Phoenix, so he knew he'd be OK heading into this weekend.

"My stomach was sore and my elbow was banged up, but I was able to put that aside in the race car," he said after earning his second Atlanta pole and the 64th of his Cup career. "This makes me feel just fine.

"You know what, this is a tough place to sit on the pole and I'm extremely excited by this. This is a very fast race track and it's very tough to get around here quick. Today, we got out there in practice and I thought something was wrong with the car, it was so out of control."

Gordon said he worked with crew chief Steve Letarte to make the car better and the team made steady progress in practice.

"To go out there and put down that kind of lap, it feels great and I'm impressed with this team."

Martin Truex Jr. made it a sweep of the top three places for Chevrolet with a lap of 183.807.

Carl Edwards, coming off two wins in a row, but under the shadow this week of a NASCAR penalty that knocked him out of the points lead, didn't let it bother him as his Ford qualified fourth at 183.287, just ahead of the 183.248 by six-time Atlanta winner Bobby Labonte in a Dodge and the 182.910 of Kyle Busch in a Toyota.

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