After narrowly missing out on making the final four drivers for the final of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Jeff Gordon will start from pole at the season ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway.
Although not in the final hunt for the title, Gordon did bring up a milestone for the Hendrick Motorsports organisation.
“To be the 200th pole for Hendrick Motorsports is really cool,” said Gordon
“I think the way we’re looking at this weekend is we want to close out the season the absolute best we can. It’s been a tremendous season. The No. 24 team has been incredible this year.
“We’re disappointed that we aren’t in this thing for the championship, but that’s not going to stop us from trying to go out to win the pole and win the race.”
The main is on the four drivers fighting for the title with Kevin Harvick to start fifth, Denny Hamlin from eight, Joey Logano in ninth, while Ryan Newman will start back in 21st. Whoever finishes highest in the race from these four drivers will be crowned the champion.
Sharing the front row with Gordon will be Kurt Busch.
In his final race as a fulltime driver in NASCAR Marcos Ambrose gave a pointer to 2015 with his starting position. Next season for DJR Team Penske he will drive the #17, at Homestead Miami he will start from the 17th position.
“I’m really proud of this team. They have worked hard all year and we have a pretty good car this weekend,” said Ambrose.
“We were a little tight in qualifiyng, but the track was fast. It had a lot of of grip and that helped. It’s nice to close to the front this last race together.
“Hopefully we can put it all together on Sunday.”
| POS. | CAR | DRIVER | MANUFACTURER | SPONSOR | MPH | BEST TIME | BEHIND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | Jeff Gordon |  |
Drive to End Hunger | 180.747 | 29.876 | Leader |
| 2 | 41 | Kurt Busch | |
Haas Automation | 180.632 | 29.895 | –0.019 |
| 3 | 20 | Matt Kenseth |  |
Dollar General | 180.294 | 29.951 | –0.075 |
| 4 | 2 | Brad Keselowski |  |
Miller Lite | 179.994 | 30.001 | –0.125 |
| 5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | |
Budweiser | 179.946 | 30.009 | –0.133 |
| 6 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | |
5-Hour Energy | 179.593 | 30.068 | –0.192 |
| 7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | |
M&M’s | 179.480 | 30.087 | –0.211 |
| 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | |
FedEx Express | 179.348 | 30.109 | –0.233 |
| 9 | 22 | Joey Logano | |
Shell Pennzoil | 179.259 | 30.124 | –0.248 |
| 10 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | |
Furniture Row | 179.069 | 30.156 | –0.280 |
| 11 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | |
National Guard | 178.336 | 30.280 | –0.404 |
| 12 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | |
Lowe’s | 176.684 | 30.563 | –0.687 |
| 13 | 55 | Brian Vickers | |
Aaron’s Dream Machine | 179.004 | 30.167 | –0.291 |
| 14 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | |
Brandt | 178.938 | 30.178 | –0.302 |
| 15 | 99 | Carl Edwards | |
Fastenal | 178.802 | 30.201 | –0.325 |
| 16 | 27 | Paul Menard | |
Richmond/Menards | 178.796 | 30.202 | –0.326 |
| 17 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | |
Stanley | 178.778 | 30.205 | –0.329 |
| 18 | 43 | Aric Almirola | |
Smithfield Foods | 178.601 | 30.235 | –0.359 |
| 19 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | |
CESSNA | 178.601 | 30.235 | –0.359 |
| 20 | 16 | Greg Biffle | |
3M | 178.477 | 30.256 | –0.380 |
| 21 | 31 | Ryan Newman | |
Caterpillar | 178.241 | 30.296 | –0.420 |
| 22 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | |
Fastenal | 177.959 | 30.344 | –0.468 |
| 23 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | |
Great Clips | 177.778 | 30.375 | –0.499 |
| 24 | 3 | Austin Dillon | |
Dow | 177.678 | 30.392 | –0.516 |
| 25 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | |
Hungry Jack | 178.230 | 30.298 | –0.422 |
| 26 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | |
Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 178.136 | 30.314 | –0.438 |
| 27 | 42 | Kyle Larson | |
Target | 178.130 | 30.315 | –0.439 |
| 28 | 14 | Tony Stewart | |
Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1 | 178.024 | 30.333 | –0.457 |
| 29 | 13 | Casey Mears | |
No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS | 177.690 | 30.390 | –0.514 |
| 30 | 33 | Brian Scott | |
Shore Lodge | 177.189 | 30.476 | –0.600 |
| 31 | 34 | David Ragan | |
The Pete Store | 177.113 | 30.489 | –0.613 |
| 32 | 10 | Danica Patrick | |
Florida Lottery / GoDaddy | 177.072 | 30.496 | –0.620 |
| 33 | 40 | Landon Cassill | |
Harvey Gulf | 176.344 | 30.622 | –0.746 |
| 34 | 83 | J.J. Yeley | |
Dip Your Car | 176.304 | 30.629 | –0.753 |
| 35 | 38 | David Gilliland | |
MDS Transport | 176.056 | 30.672 | –0.796 |
| 36 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | |
Feed The Children/Dei Fratelli | 175.638 | 30.745 | –0.869 |
| 37 | 98 | Josh Wise | |
PPR98.com | 175.553 | 30.760 | –0.884 |
| 38 | 95 | Michael McDowell | |
KLOVE Radio/Thrivent Financial | 175.479 | 30.773 | –0.897 |
| 39 | 7 | Michael Annett | |
Pilot Flying J | 174.887 | 30.877 | –1.001 |
| 40 | 32 | Blake Koch | |
LeafFilter.com | 174.859 | 30.882 | –1.006 |
| 41 | 23 | Alex Bowman | |
Dip Your Car | 174.565 | 30.934 | –1.058 |
| 42 | 26 | Cole Whitt | |
Speed Stick GEAR | 174.143 | 31.009 | –1.133 |
| 43 | 66 | Brett Moffitt | |
X8 Energy Gum | 173.807 | 31.069 | –1.193 |
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