Final thoughts on qualifying

Jeff Gordon won his second career pole at California Speedway. The last time he started out front was in 1998. Still, Gordon said he would rather be on the pole than anywhere else.
"Any time you can start up front, it's a plus," Gordon said. "Does it guarantee anything? No, it doesn't. If I had my choice, I'd rather start on the pole. It just kind of gets your weekends started right -- your pick of pits. But it doesn't guarantee anything."
Kasey Kahne qualified second and will start alongside Gordon on the front row for Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race.
"We just missed it by a little bit and we're just looking forward to Sunday," said Kahne, who won the Labor Day race at California Speedway last year. "Hopefully, we'll get a good result on Sunday and gain some points."
Mark Martin, who can't seem to catch a break in any NASCAR race lately, will start third in Sunday's Cup race.
"I'm really thrilled," said Martin, who was leading the Truck Series race Friday night, only to get spun out with four laps to go and finush 23rd. "Last time here I had a pretty good car and I overdrove the qualifying lap, about killed myself and qualified 38th. I feel better today. I had a better race car. We were fifth fastest in practice. I'm incredibly pleased with my lap."