November 2008 Pole Winner: #24-Jeff Gordon, 188.469 mph, finished 2nd

April 2009 Pole Sitter: #00-David Reutimann, 190.517mph, finished 11th

Track Pole Record: #25-Brian Vickers, 196.235, 11/3/2006

Oldest Pole Sitter: Bill Elliott, 46 years, 6 months, 0 days, 4/08/2002

Youngest Pole Sitter: Brian Vickers, 23 years, 0 months, 12 days, 11/05/2006

Fastest Last Practice Speed: #33-Bowyer, 189.381mph, scheduled to qualify 26th out of 47 drivers

Jeff Gordon on pole at Texas: #24-Jeff Gordon won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway with a lap of 191.117mph for his 1st pole of the season and 68th career pole, Gordon has now won at least one pole every season for 17 straight seasons and has won 17 races from the 1st starting position. David Pearson holds the all-time record with at least a pole a year for 19 years [1962-1981], followed by Richard Petty at 18 years [1960-1977], then Jeff Gordon at 17. Ryan Newman is the next highest active driver at 9 straight years with at least one pole. #9-Kahne was 2nd fastest followed by #2-Busch, #14-Stewart, #18-Busch, #99-Edwards, #5-Martin, #16-Biffle, #88-Earnhardt Jr. and #33-Bowyer.
The non Top-35 drivers who made the race: #02-Gilliland, #70-Skinner, #71-Labonte, #82-Speed, #78-Smith, #87-Nemechek, #36-McDowell and #21-Elliott.
The four drivers who failed to qualify: #37-Raines, #66-Blaney, #13-Papis and #09-Bliss.(11-6-2009)

Qualifying Fast Facts - Texas:
#24-Jeff Gordon won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Dickies 500 with a lap of 28.255 seconds, 191.117 mph.
This is his 68th pole in 579 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. He ha s now won a pole in 17 consecutive seasons.
This is his first pole and 24th top-10 start in 2009. His last pole came at Texas Motor Speedway in November 2008.
This is his second pole in 18 races at Texas Motor Speedway.
#9-Kasey Kahne (second) posted his 18th top-10 start of 2009 and his seventh in 11 races at Texas Motor Speedway.
#2-Kurt Busch (third) posted his fourth top-10 start at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his 17th in 34 races this season.
#20-Joey Logano (14th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR Statistics)(11-6-2009)

Where the 2009 Chase Drivers start at Texas:
(in order of chase points standings coming into Texas)
1) #48-Jimmie Johnson, starts 12th
2) #5-Mark Martin, 7th
3) #24-Jeff Gordon, POLE starts 1st
4) #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, 20th
5) #14-Tony Stewart, 4th
6) #2-Kurt Busch, 3rd
7) #16-Greg Biffle, 8th
8) #39-Ryan Newman, 26th
9) #9-Kasey Kahne, 2nd
10) #99-Carl Edwards, 6th
11) #11-Denny Hamlin, 25th
12) #83-Brian Vickers, 15th.(11-6-2009)

Coverage of Qualifying for the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway is scheduled for Friday, November 6, 2009 at 4:40pm/et.
TV: SPEED - 4:30pm/et
Radio: PRN Radio and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio
Qualifying Re-Air: none scheduled

Pole Progression: (who had the pole first, who got it next and who ended up with it)
#17-Kenseth, 1st out to qualify, 188.304mph, starts 30th
#5-Martin, 3rd out, 190.087mph, starts 7th
#14-Stewart, 13th out, 190.624mph, starts 4th
#9-Kahne, 16th out, 190.975mph, starts 2nd
#24-Gordon, 24th out, 191.117mph, starts 1st

How did the non Top-35 teams do in qualifying?
Fastest 7 get in, 8th [43rd] spot goes to most recent past champ not in the race already or 8th fastest
[47 entered for 43 spots]:
have qualified for the race:
#02-David Gilliland, 188.950
#70-Mike Skinner, 188.844
#71-Bobby Labonte [PC1], 188.350, in on speed
#82-Scott Speed, 188.016
#78-Regan Smith, 187.990
#87-Joe Nemechek, 187.820
#36-Michael McDowell, 187.474
#21-Bill Elliott [PC2], 187.000
will miss the race:
#37-Tony Raines, 186.664
#66-Dave Blaney, 186.156
#13-Max Papis, 185.592
#09-Mike Bliss, 183.592

Rookie of the Year Candidates:
how fast were they and where do they start:
#13-Max Papis (X), DNQ
#20-Joey Logano, 189.800mph, starts 14th
#82-Scott Speed (X), 188.016mph, starts 31st
(X) = needs to race their way in to the race
DNR = Did not race
DNQ = Did not qualify for race

Some Qualifying Notes:
#31-Burton and #09-Bliss will be in backup cars as they both wrecked in Friday's practice. #34-Andretti lost an engine in practice.

Practice Results:
Practice Speeds Page

Race info at: Race Info Page

Event Entry List

Past Champions Provisional page

All Time Sprint Cup Pole Winners

After the 5th race of the season, the current season OWNERS points are used:
#1) - First 35 by current Owner Points [team does not have to attempt all the races]
#2) - Last Years Cup Champ or the Event Champion if not already in the field
#3) - Car Owners whose team has won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#4) - Drivers who have won in the previous and current season not already in the field
#5) - Past Nextel Cup Champions not in by 1 thru 4
#6) - Qualifying Attempts with Owners points as the tie breaker
#7) - Qualifying Order Position
(all above apply as long as the team was entered by the entry deadline - usually 7-13 days before the race)