Vickers grabs 400 pole

Brian Vickers figures he'll need a strong showing in tonight's Crown Royal Presents Russell Friedman 400 to prove he's a legitimate contender to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Vickers got most everyone's attention yesterday by capturing the pole at Richmond International Raceway for the first time in five years. He posted a speed of 127.131 mph to share the front row with four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon, who qualified second with a 126.844.

Denny Hamlin, a former Chesterfield resident, qualified third in 126.665. South Boston's Jeff Burton will start fifth after turning a fast lap of 126.322 and Emporia's Elliott Sadler qualified 32nd (124.654).

Vickers is 15th in the points standings, and three positions from qualifying for the postseason. He has more than enough incentives to perform better than his eighth-place finish after his 2004 pole victory here.

"The track is worn out a little bit and they don't seal it anymore like they used to, which I think is a good thing," Vickers said. "I think the sealing hurt it in races.

"We probably have as good of a car or better to go and compete for a win, and obviously five years of experience is priceless when it comes to racing in this series. Not just qualifying, but racing."

Vickers, driving the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, admits that RIR isn't his favored racetrack. But he enjoyed himself yesterday.

"It's a very difficult track to complete a pass, which can be very frustrating in the race," said Vickers, who has only one top-10 finish in nine Sprint Cup starts at RIR, but three top 10s in Nationwide events.

Vickers said he isn't expecting to dominate tonight's race as Hamlin did a year ago before blowing a tire. He reasons that the 381 laps Hamlin led was more an aberration than the norm.

Hamlin, the Nationwide winner here last year, said he and his Joe Gibbs Racing crew squeezed all it could out of their No. 11 Toyota during yesterday's practice and qualifying.

"We qualified pretty good here and [the racetrack] has been pretty good to us," said Hamlin, who twice has been on the pole at RIR. "We want to be somewhere in the top 10. We didn't think we had a car for a pole, but it looks like we got everything out of it."

Hamlin and Vickers will have an eye on Gordon. Gordon, a five-time pole winner at RIR, seeks his third win on this short track, but his first since the 2000 fall race.

Gordon's Hendrick Motorsports team didn't spend much time with qualifying trim. They unloaded preparing to race.

"We actually started pretty far off, but what makes me so proud and what's making this team so good this year is that we never gave up on them, we stuck together and by the end of practice, I felt like we really brought the car to life for the race [today]," Gordon said.

"We put it in qualifying trim and it seemed to be good right away. So the car is there, the engine, the body and the team certainly is doing just an awesome job."