Credit: 314008Sarah Crabill/Getty Images. Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Wurth Ford, practices for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 6, 2015 in Fort Worth, Texas
Car 2 Brad Keselowski Wurth Ford won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 11th Annual AAA Texas 500 with a lap of 27.421 seconds, 196.929 mph. This is Keselowski’s 11th pole in 231 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. This is his 3rd pole and 21st Top 10 start in 2015 & this is his first pole in 15 races at Texas Motor Speedway. Car 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet 2nd posted his 23rd Top 10 start of 2015 and his sixth in 26 races at Texas Motor Speedway. Car 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Crispy Toyota 3rd posted his
10th Top 10 start at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his 17th in 23 races this season. Brett Moffitt (35th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Credit: 314024Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images. Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Wurth Ford, poses with the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for pole position during Service King qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 6, 2015 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Credit: 314005Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images. Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, sits in his car during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 6, 2015 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Jeff Gordon won the Sunday’s Goody’s Headache Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway to automatically earn one of the four berths in the Championship 4 Round race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The win was the 93rd of ordon’s career and his 9th at Martinsville Speedway (first among active drivers).
Gordon now has a huge advantage over the rest of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field because his team can focus solely on its Homestead car, while the other seven drivers compete for the final three Championship Round spots at Texas and Phoenix.
By winning Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC), Gordon would block a transfer spot from a driver which could help thin out a competitive field that includes season wins leader Joey Logano and defending series champion Kevin Harvick.
Gordon is trying to win his 5th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, 1st in the Chase era (2004-present) and first since 2001. If he can capture the championship, his 14 seasons between titles would break Terry Labonte’s record of 12 for the longest stretch between championships.
This is how the Chase Grid shapes up: 1. Gordon (Leader, locked in) 2. Kyle Busch (9 points above the cutoff line) 3. Martin Truex Jr. (+9), Harvick (+7), Edwards (-7), Keselowski (-24), Kurt Busch (-26) and Joey Logano (-28).
Credit: 314014Tom Pennington/Getty Images. Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage (L) presents retiring driver Jeff Gordon with Shetland ponies for his kids during a press conference at Texas Motor Speedway on November 6, 2015 in Fort Worth, Texas.
5 of the 8 Chase drivers have won at Texas, led by Carl Edwards, who has taken three checkered flags there. Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Logano have each won at Texas once, while Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski have never been to Victory Lane there.
Harvick leads the eight Chase drivers with a 12.7 average finish at Texas, followed by Kyle Busch (12.9), Carl Edwards (15.0), Truex (15.1), Kurt Busch (15.9), Logano (16.9), Gordon (17.3) and Keselowski (17.3).
Credit: 314007Sean Gardner/NASCAR via Getty Images. Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, adjusts his equipment in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 6, 2015 in Fort Worth, Texas.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500
Texas Motor Speedway Distance: 501 miles (334 laps)
Sunday, Nov. 8 The Time: 2 p.m. (ET) TV: NBC, 1:30 p.m. (ET)
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM Ch. 90
Starting Line Up by Row
Texas Motor Speedway 11th Annual AAA Texas 500
Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Fri, November 06, 2015 @ 08:03 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Greg Biffle 04/14/12 03:07:12 160.577
Position Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1:
1. Car 2 Brad Keselowski Wurth Ford 27.421 196.929
2. Car 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet 27.552 195.993
Row 2:
3. Car 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Crispy Toyota 27.591 195.716
4. Car 22 Joey Logano AAA Insurance Ford 27.633 195.419
Row 3:
5. Car 42 Kyle Larson Target Plaid Chevrolet 27.644 195.341
6. Car 20 Erik Jones(i) DeWalt Toyota 27.650 195.298
Row 4:
7. Car 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 27.694 194.988
8. Car 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 27.708 194.890
Row 5:
9. Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 27.740 194.665
10. Car 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet 27.767 194.475
Row 6:
11. Car 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 27.934 193.313
12. Car 16 Greg Biffle Ortho Ford 28.361 190.402
Row 7:
13. Car 19 Carl Edwards Sport Clips Toyota 27.644 195.341
14. Car 15 Clint Bowyer Maxwell House Toyota 27.646 195.327
Row 8:
15. Car 55 David Ragan Aaron’s Online Dream Machine Toyota 27.667 195.178
16. Car 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 27.672 195.143
Row 9:
17. Car 13 Casey Mears GEICO Military Chevrolet 27.718 194.819
18. Car 24 Jeff Gordon Axalta Chevrolet 27.744 194.637
Row 10:
19. Car 31 Ryan Newman Quicken Loans Chevrolet 27.755 194.560
20. Car 27 Paul Menard Schrock/Menards Chevrolet 27.810 194.175
Row 11:
21. Car 33 Brian Scott(i) Shore Lodge Chevrolet 27.810 194.175
22. Car 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 27.819 194.112
Row 12:
23. Car 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet 27.835 194.000
24. Car 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 27.883 193.666
Row 13:
25. Car 21 Ryan Blaney(i) Snap-On Tools Ford 27.618 195.525
26. Car 3 Austin Dillon Dow Packaging/H-E-B Chevrolet 27.622 195.496
Row 14:
27. Car 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 27.645 195.334
28. Car 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 27.670 195.157
Row 15:
29. Car 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 27.672 195.143
30. Car 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger/Scott Products Chevrolet 27.730 194.735
Row 16:
31. Car 7 Alex Bowman Nikko RC/Toy State Chevrolet 27.743 194.644
32. Car 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Sonic Ford 27.746 194.623
Row 17:
33. Car 95 Michael McDowell Tommy Williams Drywall Ford 27.911 193.472
34. Car 26 JJ Yeley(i) Overture Promotions Toyota 27.988 192.940
Row 18:
35. Car 34 Brett Moffitt # Visit Dallas Ford 28.030 192.651
36. Car 40 Landon Cassill(i) CRC/O’Reilly Auto Parts Chevrolet 28.060 192.445
Row 19:
37. Car 46 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Owner Points
38. Car 83 Matt DiBenedetto # Dustless Blasting Toyota Owner Points
Row 20:
39. Car 35 Cole Whitt Moen Ford Owner Points
40. Car 23 Jeb Burton # Dr Pepper/Estes Toyota Owner Points
Row 21:
41. Car 38 David Gilliland Love’s Travel Stops Ford Owner Points
42. Car 98 Ryan Preece Xyience Chevrolet Owner Points
Row 22:
43. Car 51 Justin Allgaier Texas Lottery Chevrolet Owner Points
Starting Line Up unless use of Back-up car or unapproved adjustments to car.
Did Not Qualify: # 32 Joey Gase(i); # 62 Reed Sorenson.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 22 0 Toyota 9 1
Ford 12 1
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series.html
Photos Courtesy of NASCAR