It took 18 years but in his final race in Las Vegas Jeff Gordon will lead the field to the green Sunday in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series Kobalt 400 (3:30 p.m. ET Fox) after winning the pole Friday night for the first time in his career at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Gordon put down a track record lap of 194.679 miles per hour with just over a minute to go in the final five minute session. The pole was the 79th of his career and marks the third time in the last four races that Gordon will start from the top spot.
“You’ve got to be fully committed and just go for it,” Gordon said. “So, I drove it down into (Turn) 1; I may have come off of it just a tiny bit, but it wasn’t much at all. And it stuck so good, I was like okay. Do I run wide open through (Turns) 3 and 4? I don’t know. It was real close. There was a lot of wide-open throttle there. It was fun.”
Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano made a lap right behind Gordon in the final session but could only manage second. Kasey Kahne will roll off third Sunday followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Larson.
“We were so close,” Logano said. MORE>>>
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
- NASCAR to debut new short track package at Phoenix - February 28, 2023
- The Wrench Who Stole Racing - December 16, 2022
- Matt DiBenedetto’s excellent run comes to abrupt, violent end - February 17, 2019
