Gordon Grabs Pole

Jeff Gordon earned his second Winston Cup pole position at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Va., the same way he won the first three years ago - by breaking the track record.

The defending Winston Cup champion and this year’s leader toured the -mile oval at 125.558 mph, nearly a second faster than his 1995 mark of 124.757, to beat surprising Rich Bickle for the top spot by .256 seconds.

Sterling Marlin also broke Gordon’s old mark to get the third spot at 124.977. Spokane’s Chad Little qualified ninth.

Tony Stewart turned the fastest official lap ever at Texas Motor Speedway to grab the pole for the True Value 500K in Fort Worth, Texas.

Stewart, the Indy Racing League’s leading driver, lapped the 1.5-mile oval in 24.059 seconds, a qualifying speed of 224.448 mph.

It topped Stewart’s previous track record of 218.094 mph, set on lap 97 of last year’s race, and was some 8 mph faster than he ran in winning the pole for last year’s race.

He’ll be joined on the front row for tonight’s race by Billy Boat, who ran 223.547 mph.

Jeff Burton stalked Dale Earnhardt Jr. for more than 200 laps, then passed him for good with 37 laps to go and won the Hardee’s 250 Busch Grand National race in Richmond, Va., his home state.

Tony Raines took the lead late then held off the charge of rookie Andy Houston to win an accident-punctuated NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Pronto Auto Parts 400 at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.