Hendrick Motorsports dominated Saturday’s qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway, with all four of its drivers sweeping the top-four starting positions for the Aaron’s 499.
Jeff Gordon notched his 70th career pole in the Sprint Cup Series after posting a lap of 178.248 m.p.h. around the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Gordon was the only driver who topped the 178 m.p.h. mark and surpassed Cale Yarborough for third place on the series’ all-time pole winners list.
Richard Petty holds the record for most poles with 123, followed by David Pearson’s 113.
Hendrick Motorsports becomes just the third team in the history of NASCAR’s top-tier series to qualify four cars in the first four starting spots. Kansas City Star
Jimmie Johnson (177.844 mph) qualified second, followed by teammates Mark Martin (177.807 mph) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (177.765 mph).
Paul Menard (177.702 mph) nailed down the fifth starting spot, and Landon Cassill, whose Phoenix Racing Chevrolet also sports Hendrick power, qualified sixth at 177.685 mph.
“It felt like I could walk faster than I was going,” Gordon said. “In this day and age, to have the slowest qualifying lap we’ve ever had since this place was [built]—I mean, come on. It’s crazy that we’re not able to run faster than that.”
Gordon said the smaller plate is the proper one for the race, with speeds in the draft expected to pick up more than 15 mph over qualifying speeds, but he suggested that NASCAR explore a different package for qualifying. NASCAR.com
“I felt like I could’ve walked faster than I was going,” Gordon said. “Anybody could drive that car at that speed. We need to make it a little more interesting.”
The horsepower-sapping restrictor plates are more limiting than ever. With the teams figuring out they can go faster driving in tandem rather than drafting in larger packs, NASCAR mandated a smaller plate at this high-banked track to keep speeds under control during the race.
But that made qualifying “just a snoozer” from Gordon’s perspective. The Associated Press
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Aaron’s 499 at Talladega - Race Line-Up
Interview With Talladega Sprint Cup Race Pole Winner - Jeff Gordon
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