Gordon edges Martin to earn pole for Dover race

DOVER, Del. -- Coming back to Dover International Speedway was just what Jeff Gordon needed.

Returning to the Monster Mile, where he has four career victories, Gordon turned a lap in 22.921 seconds (157.061 mph) Friday afternoon to win the pole for Sunday's Camping World RV 400, the second race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Gordon, who claimed his fourth pole at the high-banked concrete track, edged Dale Earnhardt Inc. driver Mark Martin (157.054 mph) by a thousandth of a second for the top spot. Denny Hamlin (156.515 mph) qualified third, followed by Kurt Busch (156.379 mph) and Greg Biffle (156.284 mph), who won the first Chase race last Sunday at New Hampshire.

Clint Bowyer, David Gilliland, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start from positions 6-10. Cup points leaders Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards earned the 20th and 22nd positions on the grid, respectively.

Gordon, 11th in the Chase standings and 99 points behind Johnson and Edwards, hopes his third pole of the season and the 66th of his career will jump-start the championship efforts of the No. 24 Chevrolet.

"Right now, it's just getting the comfort and the speed out of the car when we unload it off the truck, or making adjustments that make improvements as we go through the day or through the weekend," said Gordon, who hasn't won a race this season. "That's what I saw [Friday].

"We unloaded, we were in qualifying trim, the car was OK -- it was a little loose -- and we made adjustments and made it better. By the end of practice, I felt like we had the best car out there, and we were able to back that up."

Martin, who will race full time for Hendrick Motorsports next season, believes Gordon is capable of making a run at the title, even though his future teammate hasn't had an outstanding season thus far.

"Anybody that wants to count him out better stand back and watch," Martin said. "They can put on a fire streak like you couldn't believe. All they have to do is just hit the setup on the racecar -- something that he really likes -- and that can come any day at any racetrack."

Notes: In addition to Gordon, Hamlin, Biffle, Bowyer, Kenseth, Earnhardt, Johnson and Edwards, other Chase drivers secured the following starting positions: Kyle Busch 11th, Jeff Burton 21st, Kevin Harvick 24th and Tony Stewart 33rd. ... Chad Chaffin, Johnny Sauter and Stanton Barrett failed to make the field.