No. 80: Jeff Gordon hits Coors Light Pole milestone

Gordon, who also won the pole position for the season-opening Daytona 500, claimed the No. 1 starting spot by .281 seconds.

"We definitely have a fast Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet," said Gordon, the last driver to make a qualifying attempt. "I think we've shown that all weekend long. But you never know what you've got until you put it on the clock. I am so proud of this pole because we got the pole in Daytona, but it was a totally different format. I knew the car was fast there. For this team to bring another car, a different car here, and all the hard work from the engine shop and what they do with the bodies, and chassis and prep. A lot of hard work goes into this and (crew chief) Alan Gustafson takes a lot of pride in these. They should, this is awesome.

"And awesome for Hendrick Motorsports to be on the front row. This was all them. I played a small role at Daytona, but I played no role today, but it was fun."

Kasey Kahne pushed the Hendrick No. 5 Chevy to a lap of 193.685 mph, snaring the second starting spot for Sunday's GEICO 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX). Ryan Blaney qualified third at 193.611 mph in the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford. Teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson were next, placing all four Hendrick Motorsports cars in the top five starting spots.

The session was the series' first since NASCAR mandated rules changes for qualifying on tracks where restrictor plates are used to limit engine horsepower. The group qualifying format introduced before the 2014 season often created large aerodynamic packs, gamesmanship and the threat of multi-car crashes.

After a particularly wreck-heavy Speedweeks to open the season for all three national series at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR competition officials dropped the group format for Daytona and Talladega. Instead, drivers participated in single-car runs, released to the track in staggered intervals, in two rounds -- the opening round for all cars, with the final 12 advancing to the final round.

David Ragan, making his final start in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota in place of the injured Kyle Busch, was ninth-fastest in qualifying. He'll move to the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55 Toyota for the rest of the season, starting next weekend at Kansas Speedway, where JGR development driver Erik Jones plans to make his Sprint Cup debut in the No. 18.

In the meantime, team owner and occasional driver Michael Waltrip qualified the No. 55 ride in 23rd spot for Sunday's 500-miler at Talladega.

Defending Sprint Cup Series champion and current points leader Kevin Harvick was 24th-fastest in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet. Defending race winner Denny Hamlin managed the 17th-fastest lap in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota.

Kyle Larson took the 13th starting spot in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet, missing out on a place in the final round by just three-thousandths of a second. Michael McDowell and rookie Jeb Burton failed to qualify for the 43-car field.

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