Jeff Gordon grabs Bristol pole

Bristol, TN -- Qualifying was pushed back nearly an hour to allow track workers to dry the racing surface due to earlier rain. After the track was clear, Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon grabbed the pole for Saturday night's 500 mile event with a fast lap in 15.470 seconds, a speed of 124.03 mph.

This Bud Pole Award is the 49th pole of Gordon's career. "That was a really good lap for us. We need a good, solid qualifying run. I'm proud of these guys, they worked hard for this one today."

Jeff Gordon.

Photo by Steve Rossini.

DEI's Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start alongside Gordon in row one. Earhardt's DEI teammate, Michael Waltrip will start third next to nine time Bristol winner, Penske's Rusty Wallace in fourth.

Brickyard 400 winner, Evernham Motorsports' Bill Elliott closes out the top five. Followed by Johnny Benson, Ricky Craven, and the spring Bristol race winner, Kurt Busch. Ward Burton and Matt Kenseth close out the top 10.

Ken Schrader driving the No. 36 and Dave Blaney in the 77 spun their cars on the first lap. Since neither driver had taken the white flag, they both opted to turn around and take a final run at the checkered.

Elliott Sadler, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky during his qualifying run. Sadler's No. 21 dropped onto the apron, spun around, and came to a rest after the nose of the car slammed into the inside retaining wall.

47 cars attempted to make the field, with four teams missing out on a starting spot. Hermie Sadler, Carl Long, Tim Sauter and Morgan Shepard all missed the event.