Jeff Gordon continued his hot streak Friday afternoon, winning the pole for Sunday's SUBWAY 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.

Gordon turned the historic half-mile track in 19.938 seconds (94.974 mph) for his sixth Martinsville pole and his 63rd career pole victory.

Gordon has captured the past two NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races, two weeks ago at Talladega and last week at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He comes into Sunday's SUBWAY 500 with a 68-point lead over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup.

Martin Truex turned in his best qualifying effort ever at Martinsville, nailing down the second spot for Sunday's race, followed by Kevin Harvick and Johnson. The top four qualifiers were all driving Chevrolets. Kasey Kahne qualified fifth in a Dodge.

Gordon's pole run was his seventh of the 2007 season.

"I'm excited we qualified so good," said Gordon. "I was honestly beating myself up. I knew what we ran in practice and I knew what it would take to be on the pole and so I went out and over drove it and slid up the race track. I felt like I had blown it. The second lap, I just wanted to make sure I got into the corner good, so I backed the pace down an and pulled out a good second lap."

Weather was a factor on Friday with practice shortened by rain showers and qualifying finishing under the threat of darkness. No driver got in more than 23 laps of practice while Gordon took only three laps of practice.

"It was a tricky day with the weather and the limited practice," said Gordon. "We practiced on a qualifying set up and I'm glad we did." Kyle Busch was sixth fastest in time trials, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., J.J. Yeley, Jamie McMurray and Tony Raines.

There will be a pair of NEXTEL Cup practice sessions on Saturday, one at 10 a.m. and the other at 12:50 p.m.

Qualifying for the Kroger 200 is at 11:10 a.m. with the race set to take the green flag at 3 p.m.

The SUBWAY 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race will take the green flag at 1:30 on Sunday.

Fan gates will open at 8 a.m. on Saturday and at 9 a.m. on Sunday.

Tickets remain for both the SUBWAY 500 on Sunday, October 21, and the Kroger 200 NASACAR Craftsman Truck Series race, on Saturday, October 20, and can be purchased by calling 1.877.RACE.TIX. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.racetickets.com

Ticket prices for the SUBWAY 500 range from $42 to $77. Tickets for the Kroger 200 are $37 in advance and $42 at the gate. Kroger 200 tickets for children ages 6 to 12 are $5.