Jeff Gordon wins pole for his final Daytona 500

Jeff Gordon will start first for the final Daytona 500 of his illustrious career.

Gordon posted the fastest lap in the final round of Sunday's qualifying session for the biggest (and first) NASCAR race of the year. He'll start alongside his teammate and six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson on the front row.

The four-time Sprint Cup Series champion announced in January that 2015 would be his final full-time season in the Cup Series. While Gordon hasn't used the word "retirement" to describe his departure, he has ruled out running restrictor plate races at Daytona and Talladega again past this season.

"What I'm finding unique about this, and [crew chief Alan Gustafson] told me this before the season started when I told him this was happening, even after I announced to the team, he was like, I love it because you're going to have a unique mindset that you've probably never had before," Gordon said.

"He's right. I felt it last night and I feel it right now. That's the way I'm looking at it going into these next couple races here this week. It's kind of all or nothing for me. I got one last chance. I can take chances.
I mean, yeah, I want to win the championship. I want points. But right now it's the Daytona 500. All I want to focus on is winning the Daytona 500. I'm just enjoying the ride, enjoying the moment."

The first two starting spots were the only two decided in Sunday's qualifying format. The other 41 spots for the race on Feb. 22 will be figured out via the Budweiser Duel qualifying races on Thursday evening.

Gordon and Johnson were two of the last cars out in the final qualifying session. It meant they got a draft off the 10 cars ahead of them and utlized the lack of air to their advantage. It's Gordon's second career Daytona 500 pole. The first time he won the pole, in 1999, he won the race.

Both drivers barely made it to the line to begin their laps. According to NASCAR's group qualifying rules, a car must start a lap before the time remaining in the session expires. Gordon and Johnson crossed the line with just under a couple seconds left as the entire field waited as long as possible to go out and make one lap.

Sunday's session was the first time that the group qualifying format, first introduced in 2014, had been utilized for the front row of the Daytona 500. Previously, all cars attempting the race went out one-by-one and the fastest car (on raw speed sans the draft) won the pole.

It was not well-received. Many drivers criticized the format including Tony Stewart and defending champion Kevin Harvick. The most vocal critic was Clint Bowyer, who was crashed out in the first round of qualifying. Bowyer let rip a huge rant towards NASCAR about the qualifying circumstances.