In 16 career starts, Jeff Gordon has never won on the one-mile Phoenix International Raceway, but on Thursday night he took a big step towards breaking the streak by winning the pole for Saturday night’s Subway Fresh Fit 500.

Pos, Car #, Driver, Manu, Time secs, Speed mph, Fast Lap, Laps Run
1 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 27.537 130.733 31 31
2 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Chevy 27.574 130.558 33 33
3 20 Tony Stewart Home Depot Chevy 27.606 130.406 30 31
4 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 27.610 130.388 29 30
5 48 Jimmie Johnson [...]

A contrite Kyle Busch took at least partial blame for the miscommunication that led to his leaving the track last week, while his Hendrick Motorsports team repaired his No. 5 Chevrolet and was searching for a driver.

The Dale Jr. / DEI contract negotiations continue and the influence of ace negotiator Max Siegel may be bearing success. One contact told me [MaxChevy's Glen Grissom] on the down-low that the 51% (or majority ownership) that Dale Jr. requires to stay with DEI has essentially been negotiated – agreed to by Teresa Earnhardt.

On last night’s edition of his weekly SIRIUS NASCAR Radio show “Tony Stewart Live,” #20-Tony Stewart and co-host Matt Yocum reviewed the weekend in Texas, looked back at Stewart’s post-race comments on retirement, and talked about his run-in with #42-Juan Pablo Montoya.

NASCAR has received permission from Virginia Tech to display the school’s logo on race cars for the next three weeks, in a tribute to the victims of this week’s shootings at the university’s Blacksburg, Va. campus.

The #4 State Water Heaters Chevy Impala SS will undergo a slight transformation this weekend in Phoenix. Morgan-McClure Motorsports and Ward Burton will be sporting a large Virginia Tech logo on the hood and smaller decals on each side of their entry in this weekend’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) announced today that Buddy Sisco will move over to the #55 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry team as crew chief for Michael Waltrip. Sisco, who most recently served as car chief on the #00 Domino’s Pizza Toyota Camry, begins his new role with Waltrip this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.

UPS unveiled a special paint scheme for the #44 UPS Toyota Camry honoring the company’s 100th anniversary and identified the UPS employee who designed it through a special contest.
Joe Hill, a field support technician at UPS Worldport here [Louisville, KY], was named the winner of the paint scheme contest.