Rain gives Gordon pole, prime pit stall
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Jeff Gordon will start from the pole position in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway after steady rain washed out qualifying Friday.
Being the points leader also earned Gordon the prime stall on the cramped pit road of NASCAR’s tricky, 0.526-mile oval. He will be seeking his eighth victory at Martinsville, tops among active drivers, and his first in 47 races.
The qualifying rainout, he figures, only helps his chances.
“I think because of the pit road situation here, this is probably the most important place to start on the pole because you get that No. 1 pit stall,” said Gordon, who has started at the top spot seven other times in his career at the track. “Either way, I feel like rain or shine we had a shot at getting it. Certainly great timing for us to be leading the points.”
Martinsville’s pit road surrounds much of the small track, and the stall Gordon will take is closest to the exit to pit road with nothing obstructing his car’s path onto the track.
Other stalls are difficult to maneuver in and out of because they are all narrow.
“There’s no doubt that anyone that gets the No. 1 pit stall, it gives them the upper hand,” the four-time series champ said. “The stalls are so tight; there’s only one good one.”
Kurt Busch will start second, followed by Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.
The rain came after the Cup drivers got in a practice, and that left Gordon and several others delighted to have at least had a chance to adjust their car setups to the track.
• NHRA — At Baytown, Texas, Cory McClenathan led Top Fuel provisional qualifying in a rain-shortened session for Sunday’s O’Reilly Spring Nationals.
McClenathan, of Brownsburg, Ind., covered the quarter mile in 3.905 seconds (313.00 mph), besting Antron Brown who ran a 3.912 (305.63).
Ashley Force Hood (4.139 seconds, 304.46 mph) topped Funny Car qualifying, Kurt Johnson (6.678, 206.64) led Pro Stock, and Eddie Krawiec (7.004, 190.57) led Pro Stock Motorcycle.
• CASTRONEVES TRIAL — Brazilian race car driver Helio Castroneves owes more than $2.3 million in U.S. taxes because of unreported income and improper deductions over a five-year period, an Internal Revenue Service agent testified at his tax evasion trial in Miami.
The total, IRS agent Joann Levitt said, “is everything that should have been on the tax returns but wasn’t.”
Castroneves attorney David Garvin questioned whether Levitt had considered an alternative legal explanation for entries on the tax returns from 1999 to 2004.
“I have rendered an opinion based on all of the evidence,” Levitt said in response. “This was reportable by Helio Castroneves because it was his income.”
