Jeff Gordon Takes Pole For Chevy At Michigan

Gordon Records Ninth Pole of Season and 62nd of Career; Specially-painted Monte Carlo SS with '57 Chevy Design Cues on Pole Position

BROOKLYN, Mich. - Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Monte Carlo SS, will start from the pole position for Sunday's 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) in a specially-painted Monte Carlo SS. Gordon scored his sixth Bud Pole of the season and 62nd of his career (fifth at MIS) with a lap of 38.090 seconds at 189.026 miles per hour in dramatic fashion, as Gordon was the last driver in today's qualifying session. Gordon, driving a race car with '57 Chevy design cues to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the iconic '57 Chevy, knocked Greg Biffle from the top qualifying spot and shares the front row with the Ford driver for Sunday's 400-mile event. Although this was Gordon's sixth Bud Pole of 2007, it will be the ninth time he starts a race this season from the pole position as three qualifying sessions have been rained out.

"We made adjustments; we were decent in practice and obviously made the right adjustments there," said Gordon. "I knew it was a good lap. I didn't know if it was good for the pole. We were carrying good momentum but I wasn't as wide open as I thought I needed to be to get the pole but I knew I was getting me a good lap. Wow. Great."

Five other Team Chevy drivers qualified within the top 10 with Kyle Busch, No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Monte Carlo SS, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Monte Carlo SS, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Kinko's Monte Carlo SS, Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel's Monte Carlo SS and Mark Martin, No. 01 U.S. Army Monte Carlo SS taking the sixth through 10th grid spots, respectively. A total of 18 Team Chevy drivers will be competing at MIS on Sunday including 10 wearing the special '57 Chevy paint scheme.

The 3M Performance 400 begins Sunday at 2 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast live on ESPN and MRN radio.

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Monte Carlo SS - Pole Winner

"I don't know where to start. Obviously I got to thank this DuPont Chevrolet team and welcome back Steve Letarte. Man, that's awesome. We got good chemistry and I think that late draw really, really played out for us.

YOU SAID WOW ON THE RADIO ABOUT FIVE TIMES ON THE RADIO. DID IT REALLY CATCH YOU THAT MUCH OFF GUARD? "You know I was getting everything I could with it in practice. I was pushing it as hard as I could and obviously the late draw played a role and just all the little details we do for qualifying, then the fine tuning, the communication really paid off but that draw probably did most of it."

Kyle Busch, No. 5 Kellogg's/CARQUEST Monte Carlo SS - Qualified Sixth

"Well, I left some out there. I didn't get off of turn two as best as I probably could have. I waited a little bit too much for the throttle and then over-slowed it through turns three and four thinking that the car was going to get tight on me. Overall it was a good lap for the Kellogg's Chevrolet. Proud of all the guys, they gave me an awesome car and an awesome piece for the weekend. Looking forward to it. It's an old race car - it's 307 with a new body so I think it will be pretty good but I'm just disappointed in myself that we're not able to get a pole this year yet."

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Monte Carlo SS - Qualified Seventh

"That was a really good lap. I got pretty loose off into turn one but aside from that I really had a strong lap and very proud of the car that we brought here. Qualifying is not my strong suit; I'd love to get a red hat today but it looks like Kasey Kahne's got a pretty good grasp on that.

"I got off into turn one pretty high. The car had such good grip in turns three and four but I got into one and it got a little sideways getting out of the center. Luckily I drifted through the corner and it was pointed in the right direction so I hit the gas."

Martin Truex, Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Monte Carlo SS - Qualified 14th

"We were real good in race trim in practice, the way we were here in the last race. We went to qualifying trim and got really tight, which was odd. (Crew chief Kevin) Bono (Manion) and the guys did a great job adjusting on the car. It was really good right there, a little tight down into the corner but the center and off where it matters I was a little bit free. So it was just right and a huge pick-up for us."

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Monte Carlo SS - Qualified 28th

"The car wasn't bad. We were a little tight on one end, a little free on the other end. All in all our Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet wasn't too bad and going out first it's not obviously what you want here but still two tenths faster than what we ran in practice so that's all you can ask for."

Casey Mears, No. 25 National Guard/GMAC Monte Carlo SS - Qualified 29th

"I was way too loose in qualifying. The track heated up a little bit and we just didn't have it tightened up enough to run a quick lap.

"I've got a '61 Impala and I think it's cool to pay tribute to probably one of the coolest cars that was ever built in the United States. Big weekend for Chevrolet especially with the 50th anniversary of the '57 Chevy and hopefully we can put it in victory lane."

Tony Raines, No. 96 DLP HDTV Monte Carlo SS - Qualified 37th

ON RUNNING A SPECIAL '57 CHEVY PAINT SCHEME AND RECALLING MEMORIES WITH A '57 CHEVY: "My dad bought a '57 Chevy back when I was in high school and it was kind of one of those deals where we worked on it together and put a motor in it and rebuilt it. We'd play with it - it had headers and it was kind of loud. It had aluminum slots on it. A good-looking car. We'd drive it around once in a while and I would occasionally drive it to school. Usually when I did that I got into things of a mischievous nature. But it was a lot of fun.

"I almost got caught drag racing one time but I never got a ticket or anything like that - but it was close. We pretty much did all the things you weren't supposed to do in it. Usually my dad was in there with me.

"We used to cruise around the high school in the morning before school started. The baseball diamond was on one corner and I happened to go around that corner one morning with the rear tires lit up, banging gears. My coach was out there and he wasn't real impressed with my driving. That didn't do me any good.

"My dad sold it, probably because it was worth more sold than it was to us, but I'd probably buy another one at some point. I've always had special affection for them because of having had one when I was younger. Obviously the prices have gone through the roof. I should have bought one a while back, not try to buy one now."

Paul Menard, No. 15 Menards/Sylvania Monte Carlo SS - Qualified 38th

ON RUNNING A SPECIAL '57 CHEVY PAINT SCHEME: "There's obviously so much history in everything we do at Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chevrolet has been such a big part of our success as an organization. I'd say it's pretty cool to pay tribute to the '57, considering the history behind it."

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Monte Carlo SS - Qualified 39th

ON NOT RUNNING THE NO. 8 NEXT YEAR: "We were trying to help make that happen and we just really couldn't come to an agreement there but that's the way it goes sometimes in this sport. You can't have everything and you just got to be satisfied with what you do have and what we're going to be able to accomplish in the future. I'm pretty excited."

HOW MUCH IS THIS WIND PLAYING WITH YOU GUYS INSIDE THIS RACE CAR? "Well, what you don't know won't hurt ya so if you don't concentrate on it too much, you just drive it but it'll probably get ya a little loose whichever way it's blowing. It's on the nose getting in the corner it'll make you a little freer and a little tighter on the opposite end of the track but we deal with that every week. It's blowing pretty good today but our car's been pretty good. I think we'll be able to get it hooked to the race track."

ON HIS CAR'S PAINT SCHEME COMMEMORATING THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE '57 CHEVY AND HOW HIS CAR IS RUNNING HERE: "Our car's pretty good actually. We didn't really try real hard in practice to put any good times up. We had to take a little bit of a break there at one point but the car's good. We've been good here the last couple of trips. I think we'll be fine this weekend."

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Monte Carlo SS, Pole Winner Press Conference Transcript

The following is a transcript of a press conference with Jeff Gordon after winning the pole position for Sunday's 3M Performance 400 in his No. 24 DuPont Monte Carlo SS race car.

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Monte Carlo SS - Pole Winner

ON HIS QUALIFYING RUN: "Obviously (it was) a good one. We were decent in practice and we didn't get probably the best lap but I thought we really communicated well on adjustments that we needed and obviously they worked very well for qualifying. Of course that late draw paid off big time for us as well, just like (Greg) Biffle stepped it up there right ahead of me. I was able to do the same thing. I mean it didn't feel like a pole winning lap. I knew I was carrying good speed but I just felt like I needed to be in the throttle a lot harder than I was but it was a great lap so I'm really, really proud of this team for this one."

CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY IT PAID OFF TO GO OUT LAST SINCE IT DIDN'T LOOK LIKE THE CONDITIONS CHANGED A WHOLE LOT THROUGHOUT QUALIFYING? "Just the angle of the sun believe it or not, even though you might not feel it or see it. The track temperature does cool down just a few degrees and they said it was six degrees cooler from the start of qualifying to the end so in that way it paid off and I think in probably the biggest way is that you get an opportunity to look and watch every car and listen on the radio, the guys comments, plus your teammates and what they did and make air pressure adjustments on pit road to compensate for that. You hope that the adjustments that you made as you go through inspection are the right ones and then you got the fine tuning of the air pressure adjustments on pit road and plus you know what kind of lap you got to run so when I saw that Biffle ran that 15 right before me, I knew that I had picked up about six tenths from where I ran in practice."

ON REFLECTING ON WHAT JEFF MEENDERING DID OVER THE PAST SIX RACES AND NOW TRANSITIONING BACK INTO STEVE LETARTE AND HOW THAT'S BEEN A LIFT: "Jeff did an amazing job. I think the whole team just proved what kind of caliber team we are by stepping up and we never finished outside the top 10, had a couple shots at winning. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't win. I thought we had some opportunities that didn't work out for us but I think that Steve.there's no doubt he just brings a little something special. He's been the guy that really has gotten this team in the position that we're in with the four wins, with the points and championship form and I think that today.it could be the slightest little detail, slightest little bit of communication or just a little bit of confidence and chemistry that's there that just kind of elevates up myself and the whole team and that's what I'm excited about for the next four weeks as well as going into those last 10."

HAVE YOU STEPPED IT UP A FEW EXTRA NOTCHES THIS WEEK AFTER WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK? "Well I wish last week I turned it down a notch. I had it up too many notches and that's what got me in trouble. I take a lot of pride in what I do out there and I want to do it the best I possibly can every single time I'm out there. I don't like to make mistakes even though we all make mistakes. Still I take it very personal and hard and when the team puts me in the position to win then we need to win. Obviously things happen. In Texas I made a mistake when we had the opportunity and I told the team I was going to make it up to them. Luckily I was hitting to do that the following week and then it happened last week and I want to make it up to them again but I'm not saying it has to happen this week but my way of making it up to them is to come to the track prepared with the intensity that it deserves and it takes and the focus to make sure I don't make mistakes. I'm not saying I wasn't focused last week but I made the mistake and I don't want to make those same mistakes twi ce."

WAS THERE A MOMENT SUNDAY NIGHT WHERE YOU SAID 'I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT?' "I said it a thousand times Sunday. I said it maybe 500 times on Monday and another couple hundred on Tuesday. That was a very tough one to get over and I'm really good at letting things roll off my back and getting past them and this has been a tough week. The best therapy for me has been getting home, being with Ella and Ingrid, but anytime I have time to think and my mind kind of clears out I start thinking about it and I'm just glad to get here to the race track so I can put it behind us and move on."

ON BEING THE LAST CHEVROLET TO VISIT VICTORY LANE HERE AND WHY CHEVY HAS HAD A TOUGH TIME WINNING AT THIS TRACK: "Hard to say. I mean I feel like we've been a little bit behind horsepower over the past.you look, a lot of Yates cars have won here and those guys make some serious power. Now you've got the Yates-Roush package and they won here so they make obviously very good power. Other than that, I think we've been in position to win some races here, just hasn't worked out. I don't think there's really any major thing. I think it's just coincidence in some cases but if I was the last one I hope I'm the next one to do it too."