CONCORD, N.C. — Jeff Gordon earned the first of his 82 victories at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Now, 16 years later, he’s stuck in the longest losing streak of his career.
But his pole-winning run has him in strong position to snap that 59-race drought tonight at Charlotte, where he has five career wins, but only one since 1999. It was Gordon’s first pole of the year, and a breakthrough victory this weekend would bolster his chance of winning the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
“This is huge and a huge shock,” he said of earning the top starting spot. “We just have not been qualifying good this year. I thought for sure a half-dozen guys would beat us. It’s awesome timing in the Chase.”
Tonight marks the halfway point in the Chase, and Gordon goes into the race ranked fourth in the standings. He’s 85 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.
Keselowski wins.
Brad Keselowski is piling up the wins in the Nationwide Series.
Keselowski pulled away on a late restart at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday night, earning his fifth Nationwide victory of the season.
Keselowski extended his advantage in the standings to 450 points, leading the final 35 laps. Martin Truex Jr. finished second, followed by Justin Allgaier, Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer, who started on the pole but had a costly pit-road speeding penalty late.
• JR Motorsports locked in Danica Patrick for the first four Nationwide Series races of 2011, and the rest of her schedule will depend on her IndyCar commitments.
Today’s race
NASCAR Bank of America 500 Site: Concord, N.C.
TV: 5:30 p.m., KMGH-7
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles)
Race distance: 501 miles, 334 laps
