When it comes to restrictor-plate qualifying no one has been better than Jeff Gordon this season, supremacy that continued Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.
Gordon (194.500 mph) edged Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kasey Kahne (193.638 mph) and Jimmie Johnson (193.584 mph) to take the No. 1 starting spot for Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500. Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr., the fourth driver in Hendrick’s lineup, completed the top-five qualifiers.
The pole was Gordon’s fourth of the season, three of which came at either Talladega or Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR’s two restrictor-plate tracks. The only plate race where Gordon didn’t start first was the July Daytona race, where rain forced the cancellation of time trials.
“To be able to get the results like that and they have been doing it all year long on these tracks is just a complete credit to all the details that come from the top down,” Gordon said.
Talladega is the Round 2 elimination race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup that will see the 12-driver field trimmed by four. Of the dozen eligible, only Joey Logano is secured advancement, having clinched a berth by winning Oct. 11 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Team Penske driver also won last week at Kansas Speedway in a controversial finish that saw Logano bump Kenseth out of the lead with five laps to go.
Trevor Bayne, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Logano, Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart rounded out the top 12.
An unusual incident occurred when Clint Bowyer mistakenly put his car in reverse and backed into the nose of Justin Allgaier’s Chevrolet. Allgaier sustained damaged that required repairs on pit road and seemingly slowed his qualifying lap, posting the 39th-fastest speed. Ironically, Bowyer is signed to replace Allgaier next season at HScott Motorsports.
“Feel extremely bad for [Allgaier] and his team,” Bowyer tweeted. “Definitely the strangest thing in all my years of racing I’ve ever had happen.”
Provisionally holding the final Chase transfer position, Martin Truex Jr. will have to race his way into the next round from the back of the pack. The Furniture Row Racing driver had his time disallowed when he dove underneath the double yellow lines along the frontstretch apron.
Truex said he wasn’t aware of the rule, but wasn’t concerned about lining up last in the 43-car field. He finished fifth in the May Talladega race after starting 36th.
“I didn’t know you couldn’t do that here in qualifying,” Truex said. “I didn’t get the memo.”
Jeb Burton and Michael Annett failed to qualify.
