Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Richmond NASCAR: Dale Earnhardt Jr leads Jeff Gordon in all-Hendrick front row

Dale Earnhardt Jr claimed pole position for Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond, while Jeff Gordon completed a front-row sweep for Hendrick Motorsports

Earnhardt, who had been second fastest in first practice, beat Gordon's benchmark with a time of 21.256 seconds, just seven thousandths quicker than the four-time champion's flying lap, to secure his first pole of 2012.

NASCAR's most popular driver is already locked in the Chase but starts the final race of the regular season hoping to get a victory and further bonus points.

"I've not really been the best of qualifiers the last couple of years," said Earnhardt. "We have a lot of improvements we've made this year. It feels good to get a pole."

He added: "I think everybody wants to get the win to kick the Chase off, and go into the Chase with a lot of confidence. It's a fun race track; we love running here. I think we'll have a good car tomorrow."

Gordon is also looking for a victory that would automatically hand him the final Chase wildcard spot. He currently trails four-time Richmond winner Kyle Busch, who starts 15th, by only 12 points.

"We will just see where we end up," said Gordon. "It has been a solid day, we have a good race car. From here on out we are guaranteed a top 10 spot and we will see where we end up."

Furniture Row's Regan Smith was third fastest ahead of Michael Waltrip Racing's Clint Bowyer, while Jimmie Johnson made it three Hendrick cars in the top five, having been second in final practice.

Denny Hamlin, winner of the last two races and virtual play-off leader, starts seventh beside his Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Joey Logano, who enters Saturday's event still with a shot at making the Chase.

Carl Edwards was fastest among the Roush Fenway cars in qualifying, having also led final practice. He lines up on row eight and needs a win to make the play-off.

"I am excited about this race," said Edwards. "The car was really fast in the last practice. In race trim, we were the fastest car, I think, so that is good."

Michael McDowell was the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers in 19th, while JJ Yeley and Mark Green failed to make the field.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time     Gap
 1.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           21.256s
 2.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           21.263s  + 0.007s
 3.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet      21.275s  + 0.019s
 4.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota               21.292s  + 0.036s
 5.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           21.295s  + 0.039s
 6.  Mark Martin         Waltrip Toyota               21.296s  + 0.040s
 7.  Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                 21.315s  + 0.059s
 8.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                 21.327s  + 0.071s
 9.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               21.335s  + 0.079s
10.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                 21.336s  + 0.080s
11.  Sam Hornish Jr      Penske Dodge                 21.359s  + 0.103s
12.  Landon Cassill      BK Toyota                    21.405s  + 0.149s
13.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          21.415s  + 0.159s
14.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       21.416s  + 0.160s
15.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                 21.423s  + 0.167s
16.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            21.423s  + 0.167s
17.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford            21.433s  + 0.177s
18.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   21.439s  + 0.183s
19.  Michael McDowell    Parsons Ford                 21.449s  + 0.193s
20.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          21.455s  + 0.199s
21.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           21.476s  + 0.220s
22.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   21.481s  + 0.225s
23.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            21.497s  + 0.241s
24.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  21.506s  + 0.250s
25.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          21.512s  + 0.256s
26.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  21.533s  + 0.277s
27.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford               21.533s  + 0.277s
28.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       21.536s  + 0.280s
29.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota         21.541s  + 0.285s
30.  Kurt Busch          Phoenix Chevrolet            21.561s  + 0.305s
31.  David Stremme       Inception Toyota             21.591s  + 0.335s
32.  Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                    21.602s  + 0.346s
33.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            21.619s  + 0.363s
34.  Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                 21.621s  + 0.365s
35.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               21.644s  + 0.388s
36.  Stephen Leicht      Circle Sport Chevrolet       21.648s  + 0.392s
37.  David Reutimann     Baldwin Chevrolet            21.651s  + 0.395s
38.  Scott Riggs         R3 Chevrolet                 21.680s  + 0.424s
39.  Ken Schrader        FAS Lane Ford                21.703s  + 0.447s
40.  Mike Bliss          Humphrey Smith Toyota        21.719s  + 0.463s
41.  Josh Wise           Front Row Ford               21.746s  + 0.490s
42.  Casey Mears         Germain Ford                 21.759s  + 0.503s
43.  Reed Sorenson       Humphrey Smith Chevrolet     21.813s  + 0.557s

Did not qualify:

     JJ Yeley            Max Q Chevrolet              21.868s  + 0.612s
     Mark Green          SS Toyota                    22.321s  + 1.065s

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Ryan Newman extends Stewart-Haas NASCAR Sprint Cup deal
Next article Richmond NASCAR: Clint Bowyer wins as Jeff Gordon grabs Chase spot

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe