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.

Gordon, driving the No.24 DuPont Chevrolet, circled the flat oval in 27.040 seconds (133.136 m.p.h.) for his second pole in three races, third of the season and 59th of his stellar career. The victory ties him for fourth overall with Darrell Waltrip. Richard Petty holds the all-time mark with 126 pole wins.

“Qualifying has been going well for us, but the way practice went I never dreamed we would be on the pole today,” said Gordon. “That’s a huge accomplishment for this race team, it shows what kind of team we have right now.”

Starting alongside Gordon will be the much improved Jamie McMurray (27.154) in the No.26 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. After a horrible first season, McMurray has rebounded in 2007 and sits 10th overall. It is the first time he has been in the top-10 since September 2005. McMurray started the season with two sub-30th finishes but since has posted four top-10s in five starts.

Denny Hamlin (27.156) and Scott Riggs (27.203) will make up row two with Jimmie Johnson starting fifth.

The Sports Network

QUALIFYING RESULTS:

Pos, No., Driver, Make, Time, Speed, +Time, -Speed

1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 27.04 133.136 0.000 0.000
2 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 27.154 132.577 0.114 0.559
3 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 27.156 132.567 0.116 0.569
4 10 Scott Riggs Dodge 27.203 132.338 0.163 0.798
5 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 27.216 132.275 0.176 0.861
6 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 27.286 131.936 0.246 1.200
7 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 27.341 131.67 0.301 1.466
8 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 27.343 131.661 0.303 1.475
9 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 27.348 131.637 0.308 1.499
10 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 27.363 131.565 0.323 1.571
11 22 Dave Blaney Toyota 27.433 131.229 0.393 1.907
12 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 27.451 131.143 0.411 1.993
13 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet 27.472 131.043 0.432 2.093
14 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet 27.474 131.033 0.434 2.103
15 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 27.475 131.028 0.435 2.108
16 13 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 27.482 130.995 0.442 2.141
17 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 27.492 130.947 0.452 2.189
18 16 Greg Biffle Ford 27.514 130.842 0.474 2.294
19 12 Ryan Newman Dodge 27.517 130.828 0.477 2.308
20 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet 27.522 130.804 0.482 2.332
21 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 27.524 130.795 0.484 2.341
22 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 27.551 130.667 0.511 2.469
23 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet 27.571 130.572 0.531 2.564
24 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet 27.604 130.416 0.564 2.720
25 00 David Reutimann Toyota 27.606 130.406 0.566 2.730
26 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge 27.612 130.378 0.572 2.758
27 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge 27.638 130.255 0.598 2.881
28 99 Carl Edwards Ford 27.645 130.222 0.605 2.914
29 78 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 27.649 130.204 0.609 2.932
30 38 David Gilliland Ford 27.685 130.034 0.645 3.102
31 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 27.745 129.753 0.705 3.383
32 6 David Ragan Ford 27.752 129.72 0.712 3.416
33 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet 27.766 129.655 0.726 3.481
34 21 Ken Schrader Ford 27.77 129.636 0.730 3.500
35 4 Ward Burton Chevrolet 27.78 129.59 0.740 3.546
36 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Dodge 27.784 129.571 0.744 3.565
37 36 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 27.789 129.548 0.749 3.588
38 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 27.796 129.515 0.756 3.621
39 37 John Andretti Dodge 27.801 129.492 0.761 3.644
40 14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 27.808 129.459 0.768 3.677
41 7 Robby Gordon Ford 27.809 129.454 0.769 3.682
42 88 Ricky Rudd Ford 27.876 129.143 0.836 3.993
43 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 27.886 129.097 0.846 4.039
44 45 Kyle Petty Dodge 27.895 129.055 0.855 4.081
45 40 David Stremme Dodge 27.915 128.963 0.875 4.173
46 84 AJ Allmendinger Toyota 27.943 128.834 0.903 4.302
47 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 27.982 128.654 0.942 4.482
48 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota 28.011 128.521 0.971 4.615
49 49 Mike Bliss Dodge 28.026 128.452 0.986 4.684
50 02 Brandon Ash Dodge 28.663 125.597 1.623 7.539