TALLADEGA, Ala. – Jeff Gordon led a Hendrick Motorsports rout in qualifying Saturday to win the pole for his final race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Gordon led teammates Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson in a sweep of the top three starting spots for the race Sunday. Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified fifth to put the four Hendrick drivers in the first three rows.
"Everybody is contributing to make this happen, that is why we are 1-2-3 and 5," Gordon said. "It's a great day for Hendrick Motorsports."
Gordon, who is retiring at the end of the season, is eager to get this final Talladega race behind him. Although he's been very good over the course of his career at Daytona and Talladega, he doesn't enjoy the white-knuckle racing that often leads to multi-car accidents.
There was a bizarre mishap on pit road when NASCAR gave Clint Bowyer the signal to begin his lap. He revved his engine and unbeknownst to him, his car was in reverse and backed hard into Justin Allgaier's car. Allgaier qualified but his Chevrolet will need more work before the race.
Bowyer said it was the "strangest" thing he'd ever been part of in racing and felt terrible for Allgaier.
Associated Press
