#24 driver Jeff Gordon took his first pole of 2009 at Texas Motor Speedway today and marked his 17th consecutive year of winning at least one pole position every full season of his carrer.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver returned to the top of the qualifying sheets for the first in a year when he grabbed pole at the very same track.
Gordon turned in a lap of 28.255 seconds, 191.117 mph to beat his nearest rival Kasey Kahne by 0.021 seconds.
“It was a great lap,” said Gordon, “It felt really, really good. I wasn’t sure if it would be good enough, but I’m proud that it ended up on top. We feel like we have a little bit of work to do (for the race). From the last (race trim) simulation the #48 (Jimmie Johnson) was running us down but tomorrow we have something to build on.”
Chase drivers Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart took third and fourth positions with Kyle Busch finishing fifth.
Rounding out the top eight drivers were Chase contenders Carl Edwards, Mark Martin and Greg Biffle.
Points leader Jimmie Johnson could only manage twelvth place finishing 0.187 seconds behind Gordon.
Brad Keselowski, making his first start for Penske Racing, qualified 35th.
