NEWS & STATS

Qualifying Recap: Dickies 500
By Brian Polking
November 6, 2009 8:45 PM ET
Jeff Gordon's bid for a season sweep at Texas Motor Speedway got a big boost, after the four-time champ but the No. 24 car on the pole for Sunday's Cup race. Gordon put down a lap of 191.117 mph, edging Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch for the top spot. It is his second pole of the season, but his first since Martinsville in March. It is his third career pole at TMS.

Kahne will start on the outside of the front row, looking for his first top-10 at Texas since winning in 2006. Busch is coming off a top-10 finish in April and will look to win his first career race at the 1.5-mile track from the third-place starting spot. Former Texas winner Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch completed the top-five qualifiers.

Defending race winner Carl Edwards will start sixth Sunday. He has won two of the last three races at Texas, and his three career wins at the track are the most all-time. Mark Martin and Edwards' teammate Greg Biffle will make up Row 4, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top 10.

Point leader Jimmie Johnson qualified 12th, putting all four Hendrick Motorsports cars in the top 12. Brian Vickers qualified 15th, putting nine Chasers in the top 15 spots. Juan Pablo Montoya (20th), Denny Hamlin (25th) and Ryan Newman (26th) were the Chasers qualifying outside the top 15.

Richard Petty Motorsports had a decent day in qualifying. In addition to Kahne starting on the outside of the front row, AJ Allmendinger and Reed Sorenson will start 16th and 18th. Outside of Bowyer, RCR struggled in qualifying. Kevin Harvick will start 24th, Casey Mears will start 36th and Jeff Burton will start way back in 42nd.

In his first start in the Penske Racing No. 12 machine, Brad Keselowski qualified 35th. David Gilliland put down the 21st best lap of the session in his second start in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 02 machine. His teammate Joey Logano will start 14th.

Four drivers failed to make the race, including Dave Blaney and Max Papis.

Starting Lineup


POS CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR SPEED TIME BEHIND
1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 191.117 28.255 Leader
2 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 190.975 28.276 -0.021
3 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 190.941 28.281 -0.026
4 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot / Old Spice 190.624 28.328 -0.073
5 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M's 190.523 28.343 -0.088
6 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 190.148 28.399 -0.144
7 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet Carquest / Kellogg's 190.087 28.408 -0.153
8 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M Scotch Super 33 Tape 190.054 28.413 -0.158
9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / Amp Energy 189.960 28.427 -0.172
10 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper 189.954 28.428 -0.173
11 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge AAA 189.900 28.436 -0.181
12 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's / Kobalt Tools 189.860 28.442 -0.187
13 0 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 189.820 28.448 -0.193
14 20 Joey Logano Toyota Home Depot 189.800 28.451 -0.196
15 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 189.793 28.452 -0.197
16 44 A.J. Allmendinger Ford Ford. Drive one. 189.700 28.466 -0.211
17 6 David Ragan Ford UPS / Boys & Girls Clubs 189.700 28.466 -0.211
18 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge Valvoline 189.593 28.482 -0.227
19 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Kingsford / Clorox / Little Debbie 189.587 28.483 -0.228
20 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target / Dream in Color 189.407 28.510 -0.255
21 202 David Gilliland Toyota Farm Bureau Insurance 188.950 28.579 -0.324
22 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 188.884 28.589 -0.334
23 170 Mike Skinner Chevrolet TRG Motorsports 188.844 28.595 -0.34
24 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 188.699 28.617 -0.362
25 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Office 188.686 28.619 -0.364
26 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Haas Automation 188.646 28.625 -0.37
27 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 188.587 28.634 -0.379
28 171 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet CBR Motorcars 188.350 28.670 -0.415
29 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Mapei / Menards 188.317 28.675 -0.42
30 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Dewalt 188.304 28.677 -0.422
31 82 Scott Speed Toyota Red Bull 188.016 28.721 -0.466
32 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies 187.990 28.725 -0.47
33 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Stanley 187.944 28.732 -0.477
34 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota NEMCO Motorsports 187.820 28.751 -0.496
35 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge Penske Racing 187.800 28.754 -0.499
36 7 Casey Mears Chevrolet Choctaw Casino Resort 187.793 28.755 -0.5
37 36 Michael McDowell Toyota Wave Energy Drink 187.474 28.804 -0.549
38 96 Erik Darnell Ford Academy Sports + Outdoors 187.182 28.849 -0.594
39 98 Paul Menard Ford Vertis / Menards 186.832 28.903 -0.648
40 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 186.438 28.964 -0.709
41 34 John Andretti Chevrolet Taco Bell 186.188 29.003 -0.748
42 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 183.767 29.385 -1.13
43 21 Bill Elliott Ford Motorcraft Champion's Provisional

Failed to Qualify
POS CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR SPEED TIME BEHIND
44 37 Tony Raines Chevrolet Long John Silver's 186.664 28.929 -0.674
45 66 Dave Blaney Toyota The Denny Hamlin Foundation 186.156 29.008 -0.753
46 113 Max Papis Toyota GEICO 185.842 29.057 -0.802
47 9 Mike Bliss Dodge Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 183.592 29.413 -1.158

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