Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored the pole during qualifying for Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Richmond International Raceway. Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. did exactly what was necessary to win the pole for Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway — and teammate Jeff Gordon did more than enough to make Kyle Busch very nervous.
The 44th of 45 drivers to make a qualifying attempt in Friday’s time trials, Earnhardt toured the .75-mile speedway in 21.526 seconds (127.023 mph) to claim his first Coors Light pole award of the season, his first at Richmond and the 11th of his career.
But it was Gordon who put himself in position for a last-ditch attempt to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with a second-place run at 126.981 mph. Gordon can dislodge Kyle Busch from the second provisional wild-card position by winning the race (if Tony Stewart remains in the top 10 in the Cup standings) or by beating Busch by more than 12 points, if no wild-card contender with one victory wins on Saturday night.
Busch posted the 15th-fastest time on Friday and will start the race 13 positions — the equivalent of 13 points — behind Gordon, setting up a dramatic shootout for the final wild-card spot.
“I think today was a big mission accomplished for us,” Gordon said. “We were very solid in practice all day. I know exactly where I left a little bit out there in (turns) 1 and 2. I got everything out of it in 3 and 4. But in 1 and 2, I knew I got down to the yellow line too early and just couldn’t get back to the gas as hard as I needed to.
“When you do that, you know that there’s somebody out there that has a shot of getting you. Second is still a fantastic effort. We had a great practice today, and our car was solid, so (I’m) pretty excited about this race tomorrow.”
Earnhardt, who has already qualified for the Chase, saw the efforts of his No. 88 team to improve the qualifying performance pay off.
“We’ve been working the last two years to improve — we haven’t been very good in qualifying all season, and this year we made some gains,” Earnhardt said. “It feels good to get a pole position and know that we’re doing something right there.
“It gives us a good starting spot for tomorrow. We feel pretty confident about the car after practice today, and starting up front is an advantage. I’m happy that we’re performing well and look forward to the race.”
Regan Smith (126.910 mph) qualified third, followed by Clint Bowyer (126.808 mph) and Jimmie Johnson (126.790 mph). Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski will start from positions six through 10, respectively.
In addition to Logano, drivers who could grab a wild-card spot with a win will take the green flag as follows: Ryan Newman 14th and Marcos Ambrose 22nd. Two other drivers who are winless this season but still have a remote chance to make the Chase are Carl Edwards (16th) and Paul Menard (27th).
J.J. Yeley and Mark Green failed to make the 43-car field.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Richmond International Raceway – Richmond, VA
Federated Auto Parts 400 Qualifying – Sept. 7, 2012
1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 21.256 127.023
2 24 Jeff Gordon 21.263 126.981
3 78 Regan Smith 21.275 126.910
4 15 Clint Bowyer 21.292 126.808
5 48 Jimmie Johnson 21.295 126.790
6 55 Mark Martin 21.296 126.784
7 11 Denny Hamlin 21.315 126.671
8 20 Joey Logano 21.327 126.600
Feel free to place the order any of your suitable time. This service is provided to you 24 hours. Bad effects of medicines (cancer drugs, antidepressants, etc.) and unhealthy lifestyle habits affect the sexual function in men with impotence. Autoimmune disorder: Autoimmune disorder is when the body’s immune system turns against itself and starts attacking healthy cells. 9 56 Martin Truex Jr. 21.335 126.553
10 2 Brad Keselowski 21.336 126.547
11 22 Sam Hornish Jr. 21.359 126.410
12 83 Landon Cassill 21.405 126.139
13 29 Kevin Harvick 21.415 126.080
14 39 Ryan Newman 21.416 126.074
15 18 Kyle Busch 21.423 126.033
16 99 Carl Edwards 21.423 126.033
17 17 Matt Kenseth 21.433 125.974
18 43 Aric Almirola 21.439 125.939
19 98 Michael McDowell 21.449 125.880
20 31 Jeff Burton 21.455 125.845
21 5 Kasey Kahne 21.476 125.722
22 9 Marcos Ambrose 21.481 125.692
23 16 Greg Biffle 21.497 125.599
24 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 21.506 125.546
25 27 Paul Menard 21.512 125.511
26 1 Jamie McMurray 21.533 125.389
27 34 David Ragan 21.533 125.389
28 14 Tony Stewart 21.536 125.371
29 47 Bobby Labonte 21.541 125.342
30 51 Kurt Busch 21.561 125.226
31 30 David Stremme 21.591 125.052
32 93 Travis Kvapil 21.602 124.988
33 36 Dave Blaney 21.619 124.890
34 87 Joe Nemechek 21.621 124.879
35 38 David Gilliland 21.644 124.746
36 33 Stephen Leicht 21.648 124.723
37 10 David Reutimann 21.651 124.706
38 23 Scott Riggs 21.680 124.539
39 32 Ken Schrader 21.703 124.407
40 19 Mike Bliss 21.719 124.315
41 26 Josh Wise 21.746 124.161
42 13 Casey Mears 21.759 124.087
43 91 Reed Sorenson 21.813 123.779
Did Not Qualify: J.J. Yeley, Mark Green
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