Jeff Gordon wins pole position for NASCAR race in Las Vegas
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Reporting from LAS VEGAS — Jeff Gordon won the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR race in Las Vegas, the third race in Gordon’s final full-time season in the Sprint Cup Series.
The four-time Cup champion turned a lap of 194.679 mph -- a track record -- on a clear, warm Friday in what’s likely to be his last appearance in the No. 24 Chevrolet at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The previous record, set by Joey Logano last year, was 193.278 mph.
Logano, this year’s Daytona 500 winner, qualified second Friday in his No. 22 Ford with a lap of 194.315 mph.
Kasey Kahne was third and Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified fourth in the 43-car field.
“What a turnaround from last week,” Gordon said, referring to how he finished 41st in Atlanta after getting collected in a multi-car crash. “It’s a great way to start our weekend.”
Gordon has won at Las Vegas once before, in 2001.
Elsewhere in the field, Jimmie Johnson -- the only four-time winner at Las Vegas -- qualified ninth. Defending race winner Brad Keselowski qualified 11th.
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