NASCAR Cup
Jeff Gordon on pole at Sears Point
Jeff Gordon earned the pole for the 1.99-mile road course event at Infineon Raceway. Gordon's lap of 94.303 mph also broke the track record set by Boris Said in 2003 (93.620 mph). "I was shocked," commented Gordon. "I was out there shaking my ...
Published: Jun 26, 2004, 1:31 PM
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Jeff Gordon earned the pole for the 1.99-mile road course event at Infineon Raceway. Gordon's lap of 94.303 mph also broke the track record set by Boris Said in 2003 (93.620 mph).
"I was shocked," commented Gordon. "I was out there shaking my head, telling Robbie (Loomis, Crew Chief) 'I can't believe we are going to get this pole.'"
This is Gordon's fourth pole at Infineon and 49th of his career. Gordon has won this event twice from the pole position.
"With the new pavement," Gordon stated. "It is more important than ever to start up front. I think it is going to be hard to pass."
Gordon survived a hop in turn ten, on his way to his third pole of the year, "I thought I left the door open. The conditions were much trickier than we anticipated. The wind really kicked up, and everyone had trouble with turn ten. We had an awesome car all day long, and we are on a mission.
"All we can do is attack, attack, attack."
All of the top-four cars shattered the old track record on the resurfaced asphalt. Rusty Wallace's lap of 94.174 mph garnered the No. 2 Dodge the outside pole.
"It was a good run for me," said Wallace. "We came out here and tested, and we were second all day in practice. I'm pretty satisfied with that lap. I really wanted the pole. I don't have a real big smile because I left too much lying on the table."
Kurt Busch and the No. 97 Ford team scored the third spot, with a lap of 93.852 mph.
"We didn't know if we should go conservative or go for the pole," said Busch. "It's still a good track and we are still learning what we have to do with the new tire here. Good run for us. To be third and start up front, and continually start up front, is a great spot for us to be in."
Busch's Roush racing teammates, Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth complete the top five.
"That was a pretty good lap," said Martin. "The Viagra team has a really fast race car here for us, but the last two times out I tried to get a little bit too much. I'm looking forward to the race on Sunday."
Ricky Craven. Michael Waltrip and Scott Riggs all experienced difficulties during their time-trial efforts. Riggs and Craven both wrecked, while Waltrip blew an engine entering into turn seven.
Favorite to win this race, Robby Gordon, had a horrible qualifying run. Gordon missed just about all of his marks, and putting the No. 31 Chevy on the board, a disappointing 24th.
"It was just driver error," commented a dejected Gordon.
Forty-four cars attempted to make the forty-three car field, failing to make the show was the No. 89 of Morgan Shepard who elected not to make a time-trial attempt.
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