Chase drivers take seven of top 11 qualifying positions

The Camping World RV 400 at Dover International Speedway is run on Sunday, but the battle for the top spot began on Friday.

The better the qualifying lap, the better the pit choice, and given Dover's tight, busy pit road, that might be the biggest factor of all in determining how Sunday will turn out.

Jeff Gordon wanted that first pit stall, and he got it. After leading practice at better than 156 mph, he posted a lap at 22.921 seconds (157.061 mph) to knock Greg Biffle off the pole and destroy a string of what had been four Fords at the top of the lineup.

"It all starts on Friday -- getting a good run and a good pit stall is the key," Gordon said after his run. "Getting a good spot helps keep you out of trouble, especially that No. 1 stall."

Seven of the Chase drivers put their cars in the top 11, while the remaining five were 20th or worse.

Denny Hamlin, the next car out after Gordon, promptly booted Biffle back to third with a lap at 23.001, 156.515 mph in his Toyota.

Gordon is the active leader in victories at Dover with four in 31 starts, but he hasn't won since 2001, his last championship season. He's been in the top five 14 times and the top 10 on 19 occasions, and Friday's pole was his fourth. Gordon also tops the active drivers in laps led at Dover with 2,201.

Hamlin has just five starts at Dover, two of them ending up with top-10 finishes including a fourth-place in the June race last year. His average finish, however, is a Chase-worst 21.0, and he'll start third on Sunday.

Biffle took the top spot early as the eighth car out during the session. His lap at 23.035 seconds, 156.284 mph was quite a bit quicker than his practice lap, which was good for fifth-fastest overall. He wound up fifth at the end of the session.

"It was a really great lap," Biffle said. "I screwed up a little on the first lap -- normally that's your fastest lap, so when you can pick up a little on your second lap, that's pretty good."

Biffle won at Dover during his breakout 2005 season, and he has four top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 12 starts. His finishing average of 12.1 is fourth-best among Chasers.

Clint Bowyer posted the sixth-fastest time in qualifying at 23.125, 155.676 mph in his Chevrolet. Bowyer has two eighth-place finishes in five starts and his average finish of 16.2 is eighth of the 12 Chasers.

Matt Kenseth is not a great qualifier, and he needs a solid run Sunday to gain back some of the points he lost at New Hampshire. The Wisconsin driver launched a lap at 23.145, 155.541 mph in the No. 17 Ford, which put him third at the time and eighth at the end.

Despite not qualifying well, Kenseth closes pretty well on the Monster Mile. His average finish is a middling 14.7 (seventh) but he has 11 top-10 results in 19 starts. Six of those are top-fives as well, and he won there in 2006.

"We're just a little off," he said. "I missed it. They wanted to tighten it up a little bit, but I talked them into leaving it where it was and it cost us."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has an enviable record at Dover -- a victory, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 17 starts -- and he will take off 10th on Sunday. His lap was at 23.151, 155.501 mph, just about where he practiced. Earnhardt finishes at a 16.9 clip, 10th out of the 12 Chase drivers.

Kyle Busch, seeking to overcome a disappointing Chase opener at New Hampshire last week, put his Toyota in 11th with a lap at 23.151, 155.501 -- the same as Earnhardt. Busch is pretty good at Dover, posting five top-five finishes in seven starts and winning the spring race this year.

His average finish of 10.3 is second only to Edwards, one of the men he has to beat to win the title.

Jimmie Johnson, co-leader of the Chase with Edwards, was 20th at 23.227, 154.992 mph in his Chevrolet. That was two-tenths slower than in practice, where he was second to teammate Gordon.

Johnson has three victories at Dover, the latest in this race back in 2005, and his 13 starts have seen one additional top-five and eight top-10s. Johnson's 11.5 finishing average is third in the Chase.

Jeff Burton was 21st in his Chevrolet, posting a lap at 23.232, 154.959 mph. Burton is one of the nine Chasers to have visited Victory Lane at Dover, doing so in the fall race in 2006, and he's added five more top-five and 11 more top-10 finishes to that victory. He averages 16.6 per finish at Dover, ninth among the Chase group.

Edwards, who has the best finish average among the 12 Chasers at 8.25, was 22nd with his lap of 23.239, 154.912 mph. In eight starts at Dover, Edwards has taken it home in the top five four times and has five top-10s. He won this race last year as well.

Kevin Harvick put his Chevy in 24th with a lap at 23.242, 154.892 mph, picking up three spots on his second lap. Harvick is one of the three Chase drivers without a victory at Dover -- joining Hamlin and Bowyer -- but has two top-five and five top-10 finishes in his 15 starts. His finishing average is 11th best among Chasers at 19.3.

Tony Stewart was a disappointing 36th in practice, and he wasn't much better in qualifying. His lap at 23.410, 153.780 mph was good for 33rd on the starting grid, and while not good, it was nearly a tenth of a second faster than he was in practice.

Stewart is a Dover ace, with two victories, nine top-fives and 12 top-10s in 19 starts, but he hasn't won there since 2000, his second year in the series. His 12.2 finishing average is sixth among Chasers, and his 1,061 laps led are second to Gordon on the active list. He has not led a lap at Dover since 2004.