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Jeff Gordon wins pole for final Daytona 500 of his career

Pole winner Jeff Gordon, second from right, and Jimmie Johnson, second from left, pose for photos with their crew chiefs, Chad Knaus, left, and Alan Gustafson, after qualifying for the top two positions for the Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Pole winner Jeff Gordon, second from right, and Jimmie Johnson, second from left, pose for photos with their crew chiefs, Chad Knaus, left, and Alan Gustafson, after qualifying for the top two positions for the Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna) Pole winner Jeff Gordon, second from right, and Jimmie Johnson, second from left, pose for photos with their crew chiefs, Chad Knaus, left, and Alan Gustafson, after qualifying for the top two positions for the Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

By Associated Press 6 min read

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – The qualifying session for NASCAR’s biggest race of the year was lambasted by Tony Stewart as “a complete embarrassment” and called a “cute show” by Clint Bowyer.

The frenetic knockout format ended with Jeff Gordon on the pole for the final Daytona 500 of his career.

And as NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell tried to answer to the wave of displeasure from the drivers after Sunday’s session, he was reminded by Gordon himself what a predicament the series is in regarding qualifying for “The Great American Race.”

“Great format, Steve!” Gordon shouted to O’Donnell from the back of a news conference room.

Indeed, Gordon had no qualms with qualifying after he and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson outsmarted the field Sunday to sweep the front row for the Daytona 500. They were among only a handful of drivers who were pleased with the format, and their opinion was most certainly based on the end result.