Gordon knocks Truex from pole, Stewart to start 34th (cont'd)

In the past five races, Stewart has one finish worse than seventh (26th in 2005, when he broke a wheel while leading), and 829 of his laps led came in that span. In three races from April 2005 to April 2006, he led 818 laps and earned one victory.

The rapidly maturing Kyle Busch has started five Martinsville races, and his best finish is fourth in April. He averaged 15.0 per finish, with two top-five and three top-10 finishes. The 22-year-old was the first of the Chasers on the track, and his lap of 20.025 seconds, 94.562 mph held up for quite a while. He'll roll off sixth, the last of the Chasers in the top 10.

Kurt Busch, one of five Chasers to have won at Martinsville, has had good days and bad days here. He has the one victory, another top-five and four top-10 finishes to counterbalance six finishes of 27th or worse.

His lap of 20.068 seconds, 94.359 mph was good for 11th.

Jeff Burton is always tough in his home state, and Martinsville seems to suit him. In 26 starts, Burton has a victory, nine top-five and 13 top-10 finishes. He won here in 1997 driving for Jack Roush, and his average finish is 15.0.

Burton was the last car out, and he put his Chevrolet 18th at 20.126 seconds, 94.087 mph.

Carl Edwards put the his Ford in at 20.130 seconds, 94.069 mph, which was good for 20th. Edwards is still searching for his groove on the tiny .526-mile oval. In six starts, he's been 12th once, and his average finish of 22.2 is 11th in the Chase, ahead of only Truex.

Clint Bowyer has three starts at Martinsville, and his best finish was 11th here in the spring. He manages to get it home in the top 20 on average (18.7), however, and that plays right into the big picture in terms of points.

He's not been the fastest gun in qualifying, however, averaging 33.3 per start, but it hasn't seemed to hurt him. He qualified 21st at 20.138 seconds, 94.031 mph.

Another Virginia pilot, Denny Hamlin, runs well at Martinsville. He's been in the top 10 in three of his four starts, twice in the top five. He was second in this race last year. His average finish is 12.5, fourth-best in the Chase.

His lap at 20.185 seconds, 93.812 mph was good for 30th.

Matt Kenseth does reasonably well at Martinsville, despite having never won here. His average finish is 16.3, seventh in the Chase, and he has four top-10s and a top-five in 15 starts. His top-five finish was a second, back in 2002.

Kenseth logged in at 20.170 seconds, 93.882 mph, good for 24th.