CONCORD, N. Greg Hardy Blue Jersey .C. -- Jeff Gordon is feeling rejuvenated as the NASCAR Sprint Cup season winds down. Gordon carried over a strong performance in Kansas last weekend to Thursday night by winning the pole for the race Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Gordon, who is fourth in the Chase standings, said its been a frustrating season but that hes feeling better with each passing race. "I feel like we knocked it out of the park tonight," Gordon said. Gordon turned a lap at 194.308 mph to edge Kevin Harvick for his ninth pole at Charlotte, tied for the second most in track history. Greg Biffle qualified third for the Saturday night race, Jimmie Johnson was fourth, and Kasey Kahne -- who held the pole for most of the night -- will start fifth on Saturday night. Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrated his 39th birthday by qualifying sixth for his 500th Sprint Cup start. Ryan Newman was seventh, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch. Gordon was upbeat after the qualifying, saying things are finally starting to mesh for the No. 24 Chevrolet team. "The thing is its really hard to maintain your confidence in what youre doing when youre struggling," Gordon said. "I felt like all year long we have been racing better than we have been qualifying, but that qualifying was a weakness for us and we needed to get better track position. Its hard not to get down when things arent going well. ... Its hard to come in here all bubbly and having fun, because honestly it wasnt fun." The 42-year-old Gordon hasnt won a race on the Sprint Cup series this year, but believes hes going to need to win one to have a legitimate shot at winning is fifth Cup championship. Gordon enters the weekend 32 points behind leader Matt Kenseth with six races left. Kenseth qualified 20th. "This will be one of our worst qualifying efforts of the year so we have a lot of work to do," Kenseth said. Kahne was hoping Thursday night would give his team momentum after what has been a disappointing showing so far in the Chase. He enters the weekend in 13th place, 83 points behind Kenseth. For a while it looked like his early lap would hold up. But then a series of drivers eclipsed his time, capped finally by Gordon, who had the last car on the track. "There were a lot of good cars at the end of the session and that kept leading up to things getting faster and faster," Harvick said. Gordon called it "the most exciting qualifying pole ever." Harvick said he would have been happy starting on the outside row had he not won from the pole last week at Kansas. "Obviously we wanted to be greedy and get that again tonight," Harvick said. "But its been nice to see the speed. It seems like everybody is able to find a little more and dig deeper when it is Chase time." Kyle Larson, making his Sprint Cup debut in Phoenix Racings No. 51 Chevrolet, qualified 21st. Johnson, who has had incredible success at Charlotte, is hoping for a good finish to jump ahead of Kenseth. Johnson enters the weekend three points behind Kenseth. "Weve had some really strong runs here over the years," Johnson said. Travis Kvapil qualified 41st one day after being released from police custody on $2,000 bond. He was arrested Tuesday and charged with misdemeanour assault on a female and false imprisonment. "Im obviously embarrassed about the situation," Kvapil said. "I dont like the negative effects that it has brought on. So I apologize to NASCAR, my team, supporters of my team, my fans and anyone else that was impacted by Tuesday night." Kelvin Benjamin White Jersey . With the two sides making little progress over the last six months, however, it appears the players union is prepared for another deadlock. "The (PAs strike) ballots are ready to be mailed out," said a source with knowledge of the negotiations, but who spoke on conditions of anonymity. Sources have told TSN that the CFLPA has steadily prepared for the possibility of a strike vote for weeks, by accumulating addresses of its members, and reviewing labour laws in provinces with CFL teams. Kelvin Benjamin Youth Jersey . Marie Greyhounds centre Jared McCann is the big mover this month, jumping into the top ten of the International Scouting Services prospect rankings for December.Just one week after being fired from his post as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, Kirk Muller is back behind the bench with the St. Louis Blues. The team announced Tuesday that Muller is joining the Blues to work as an assistant coach with Ken Hitch****. TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger adds that Muller has agreed to a two-year contract. Muller was 80-80-27 in three seasons with the Hurricanes. Carolina finished 13th in the 16-team East this seasoon. Kelvin Benjamin Jersey. Muller, 48, made six All-Star teams during a 19-year career with six clubs, most notably New Jersey and Montreal and won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993. Muller also worked as an assistant coach with the Habs from 2007 to 2011. He had never been a head coach in the NHL and was in his first season coaching the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL when he was hired during the 2011-12 season to replace the fired Paul Maurice. ' ' '
