NASCAR Cup Series

Brad Keselowski edges Jeff Gordon for Cup pole at Richmond

Published Sep. 5, 2014 6:46 p.m. ET

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Tom Jensen

Team Penske continued to show its qualifying prowess Friday at Richmond International Raceway, where Brad Keselowski won the pole for Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 400, the 26th and final race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup champion, took the pole with a lap of 126.618 miles per hour in his No. 2 Penske Racing Ford. Four-time Cup champ Jeff Gordon was second at 126.039 mph in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

It was the seventh pole of Keselowski's career, and the fourth this year. All told, it secured Keselowski's 11th front-row start this season, as NASCAR's new-for-2014 qualifying format clearly agrees with both the driver and the team. And Keselowski will be looking to win his fourth race of the season Saturday night and break a five-way tie among drivers with three race victories.

"I don't know how many races I have run here at Richmond on the Cup level but this is by far the best car I have had and I feel we have a really strong shot of winning this weekend," said Keselowski. "I am very excited about that. Everyone says they are excited but when you sit on the pole and have a fast practice you have real reason to be excited."

Gordon, too, was pleased with his effort after struggling with a new tire combination in practice earlier.

"I feel like we have a race car that can compete with those guys," Gordon said of Keselowski. "We'll just go out there and try to make it happen tomorrow night."

Starting on Row 2 Saturday night will be six-time champ Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick, with Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer on Row 3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards completed the top 10 ahead of Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman.

The six drivers in the first three rows have combined to win 14 of the first 25 Sprint Cup races this season.

Fourteen drivers have already clinched spots in the 10-race, season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup and two more will lock themselves in tomorrow night.

Greg Biffle, currently the last driver on the Chase bubble, qualified 17th, six positions behind Newman, who is in the 15th Chase slot right now. Bowyer (sixth) and Larson (eighth) are the only drivers who can knock out Biffle or Newman on points. A total of 15 other drivers can race their way into the Chase, but only with a race victory.

"I'm fairly optimistic," said Bowyer, who has two race victories here.  "This is a fun race track and a good race track for me and we're going to hopefully have a good night."

The session consisted of two rounds, with the full in the opening 30-minute round and the fastest 12 from there advancing to the final session.

Prominent drivers who failed to make the cut included Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Danica Patrick (13th) and Tony Stewart (19th), as well as Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was 24th.

The only driver who failed to qualify was Clay Rogers, who was attempting to make his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start. David Ragan and Ryan Truex failed to make a lap in the qualifying session due inspection issues, but made Saturday night's race based on owner points.

VIDEO: Race Hub takes a look back at the lasting impact of 'SpinGate' at last year's fall Richmond race

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