Gordon seizes pole at Talladega
TALLADEGA, Ala. — In this farewell season for Jeff Gordon, he continues to seize every moment both on and off the track.
Gordon won the 80th pole of his career Saturday with a blistering lap around Talladega Superspeedway, where he’s a six-time race winner.
Gordon, a four-time NASCAR champion, will start first today and have all three of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates surrounding him as he seeks his first win of the season.
Gordon’s lap of 194.793 mph was a hefty 0.28 seconds faster than teammate Kasey Kahne, who qualified second for a Hendrick Motorsports front row. It’s the third pole of the season for Gordon, who also was fastest in Daytona 500 qualifying, which was done under a different format.
“I am so proud of this pole because we got the pole in Daytona, but it was a totally different format,” Gordon said. “I knew the car was fast there — for this team to bring another car, a different car here, and all the hard work from the engine shop ... a lot of hard work goes into this.”
Kahne was satisfied with second.
“I didn’t think I could beat Jeff, but I thought I could get up there on the front row with him,” Kahne said.
Gordon raced from qualifying to the Fox television booth, where he was a guest analyst Saturday for the Xfinity Series race, which was won by Joey Logano. Logano led for 40 of the 113 laps for his third second-tier NASCAR victory this season
Gordon is more open about his free time this final year and he’s determined to enjoy every week. He’s hosting friends from New York this weekend, and used their visit to make his first trip out to Talladega’s infamous boulevard in at least a decade. The rowdy party scene is NASCAR’s version of Mardi Gras, and Gordon has avoided it for years.
Gordon joked Saturday his time in the infield Friday night helped him win the pole.
“It was so much fun, this whole year, all I’ve wanted to do was just enjoy the moments and take it all in,” he said. “I feel like we’ve done a good job of that with the scheduling and everything, and I’m having a ball. I haven’t been out there on the boulevard in like 10 years. And so it was worth it.”
Today
Race: GEICO 500 Sprint Cup race, Talladega, Ala. When: 1 p.m. TV: WPGH, telecast begins at 12:30 p.m.
The skinny: Jeff Gordon leads active drivers with six wins at Talladega. ... Kevin Harvick (357) holds a 33point lead over Joey Logano atop the 2015 Sprint Cup season series standings. ... Harvick and Jimmie Johnson have both won twice this season.