NASCAR Cup Series

Jeff Gordon grabs Daytona 500 pole to kick off final Sprint Cup season

Published Feb. 15, 2015 2:46 p.m. ET

Tom Jensen

Talk about timing.

In his final Daytona 500, Jeff Gordon claimed the pole in the first-ever group qualifying session for NASCAR's biggest race of the season.

And afterward, just about every driver except Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and second-qualifier Jimmie Johnson went away angry after a chaotic and anxious qualifying session.

In the third and final qualifying round, Gordon and Johnson timed it just right, leaving pit road with one minute left in the five minute session, enough time for a single lap.

Gordon qualified at 201.293 miles per hour, the first time the Daytona 500 pole speed was above 200 mph since Bill Elliott's record run of 210.364 mph in 1987. Johnson's speed was 201.135 mph.

It was a tense session.

"This year, with this qualifying format, the driver finally gets to play a role," said Gordon, who captured the 78th pole of his career and fourth at Daytona International Speedway. "So with a fast race car and a lot of coordination between the spotter, Alan (Gustafson, crew chief), myself and our teammates, that was pretty nerve wracking."

It was a big moment for Gordon, who already has announced that this will be his final season as a full-time driver in the Sprint Cup Series.

"That feels good. It was awesome," he said. "That was one of the most gratifying poles here at Daytona that I've ever had. Not just because it's my final Daytona 500, but because you've got to try to plan it out and try to play that chess match and we played it very, very well."

Second qualifier Johnson was pleased as well.

"It was good enough for second," Johnson said of his lap. "Very interesting qualifying session to say the least."

Today's qualifying determined only the front row for the Daytona 500. Starting positions 3-43 will be determined in Thursday night's Budweiser Duel at Daytona qualifying races.

The top-15 finishers in each Duel will be locked into positions 3-32 in the Daytona 500 field. Positions 33-36 will go to the four cars that were fastest in qualifying but failed to the race their way in via the Duels. Positions 37-42 will be based on owner points from last year. Position 43 will go to a past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion who otherwise failed to qualify. If that slot is not needed, it be awarded via owner points.

In the first half of the first round of qualifying, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson, Denny Hamlin, JJ Yeley and Bobbly Labonte crashed going into Turn 1, with Bowyer angrily confronting Sorenson afterward for blocking him when he tried to dive underneath Sorenson at the entrance of the corner.

"Mayhem. There's no other word to describe it," said Hamlin.

One other driver who was overjoyed after qualifying, was Carl Edwards, who by virtue of his qualifying speed locked himself into the Daytona 500.

"For us, this is the most stressful way you can qualify," said Edwards, who has no owner points because his team is all new. "This is the most stressful race of the year and anything can take you out of it. Just glad that we're in it with our ARRIS Toyota, this is really cool."