Gordon wins 4th straight pole

Jeff Gordon is on such an unbelievable streak even he’s amazed by it.

Gordon won his fourth straight pole on the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit Friday afternoon, shattering the track record at the Tropicana 400 with a lap of 186.942 mph at Joliet, Ill. That’s more than 2 miles faster than the previous mark of 184.786 mph set last year by Tony Stewart.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have some good streaks along the way, but this streak is pretty amazing right now,” said Gordon, who is looking for his third straight victory Sunday. “I just want to maintain this one as long as I can.”

Gordon is the first driver to win four straight poles since Bill Elliott in 1985. The victory leaves him one shy of the NASCAR record, and he could match it in two weeks at Loudon, N.H.

“Oh God, that’s a tough place to qualify,” Gordon said.

It’s the 51st pole of Gordon’s career, tying Bobby Isaac for seventh on the career list. It’s his 12th top-10 start of the season, most of any driver this year.

Series points leader and teammate Jimmie Johnson took his turn about 30 minutes later, but he couldn’t top Gordon with a lap at 186.290 mph.

Rookie Kasey Kahne finished second and Johnson was third.

Brian Vickers was next at 185.750 mph, giving Hendrick Motorsports three of the top four teams.

Defending champion Ryan Newman qualified eighth at 185.274 mph. Stewart, who had to use his backup car after a crash in practice, was 10th. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who trails Johnson in the points standings by just 27 points, qualified 25th in the 43-car field.

Defending champ Hamilton takes Busch pole

Defending champion Bobby Hamilton Jr. ran away with the pole for the Tropicana 300 at Joliet, Ill., just as he did for last year’s race at the 1 1/2 -mile D-shaped oval. Hamilton set a Busch track record with a lap at 183.611 mph, more than a mile faster than Kyle Busch.

It was Hamilton’s first pole of the year and the fourth of his career.

Busch was second in qualifying at 182.125 mph. Veteran Joe Nemechek qualified third at 182.088 mph and Matt Kenseth was fourth at 182.088 mph.

Truck series qualifying washed out again

Rain washed out the qualifying for the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky., a week after the same thing happened at Kansas Speedway before the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250.

The lineup for the race today will be set according to the series points standings, meaning Dennis Setzer will be on the pole. Defending race champion Carl Edwards, who also won last week at Kansas Speedway in his Ford, will be on the outside of the first row.

Bobby Hamilton Jr., third in the points standings, will start his Dodge on the inside of the second row.

Tracy nips Bourdais for provisional pole

Paul Tracy stayed far away from nemesis Alex Tagliani Friday, and took the provisional pole position for the Toronto Molson Indy — barely.

The hometown favorite, who won the race from the pole last year and also won here in 1993, turned a fast lap of 59.407 seconds (106.351 mph) on his sixth of 14 laps around the 1.775-mile, 11-turn temporary street course on the edge of downtown Toronto.