Michigan Gordon Qualifying Report

Gordon 'settles' for third By Shawn A. Akers

BROOKLYN, Mich. (Aug. 14, 1998) It's getting to where it's just become an expected occurrence. But Friday it just wasn't Jeff Gordon's day to win the Bud Pole.

Gordon, who has seven victories and six Bud Poles to his credit this season, ran a lap of 183.341 mph, but it was only third-fastest in Bud Pole Qualifying for Sunday's NASCAR Winston Cup Series Pepsi 400 Presented by DeVilbiss.

Ernie Irvan won the Bud Pole with a lap around Michigan Speedway at 183.416 mph. Bobby Labonte was second at 183.341 mph.

"I was hoping to go a little bit faster than that," Gordon said. "It's not a bad lap, but the track was real tight. The clouds were coming in. I pushed a little bit more than I thought I was going to. When I saw the lap time I said it was better than I thought it was going to be."

Gordon was the very first car out of 46 to hit the two-mile, D-shaped oval for Bud Pole Qualifying.

"I knew coming off Turn 4 to take the green flag that the car felt really, really tight," Gordon said. "I was hoping it was just the cold tires, but it stayed pretty tight the entire lap. We still went faster than we did in practice. I think we'll be pretty happy with it. I knew we weren't pole material today."

Starting from the third spot should still leave Gordon with an excellent shot at his fourth consecutive NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, which would tie a modern record. He has never won a race at Michigan Speedway during his young, but illustrious career.

Source: NASCAR Online