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BROOKLYN, Mich. - The numbers keep climbing — and this time the rise was anything but gradual. Jeff Gordon set the track qualifying record at Michigan International Speedway on Friday with a speed of 206.558 mph, winning his 76th career pole in NASCARs Sprint Cup series. Gordon broke the previous mark of 204.557 by a remarkable margin — and that record was set just two months ago by Kevin Harvick. Speeds at MIS have been climbing ever since the two-mile oval was repaved before the 2012 season. When Marcos Ambrose reached 203.241 that year, it was the first time anyone won a pole at over 200 mph since Bill Elliott did it in 1987, before horsepower-sapping restrictor plates were introduced at Talladega and Daytona. Joey Logano broke Ambroses record last August, only for Harvick and Gordon to keep pushing it higher. "I dont know where to start," Gordon said. "You can point at the repaving of the racetrack. This track is smooth — has a tremendous amount of surface area where the tire can get a lot of grip to it. The next thing is the cars." Gordons run Friday was the seventh-fastest pole-winning speed in the history of NASCARs top series. NASCAR overhauled its qualifying process before this season, switching to a knockout format similar to Formula One and IndyCar. NASCAR now uses three rounds of qualifying at tracks 1 1/4 miles in length or larger. The entire field has 25 minutes to post their fastest single lap and the top 24 advance to the second round. The second segment lasts 10 minutes, and the fastest 12 advance to a final, 5-minute round. There have been 17 qualifying records set this season, so this is not simply an MIS phenomenon. "It has nothing to do with the racetrack picking up speed," said Logano, who qualified second behind Gordon. "It has (to do with) what weve been doing to the race cars to go faster. ... I believe its cooler out, too. So I think between those two things, thats why we went faster again, but the racetrack itself isnt picking up speed. The racetrack, if anything, is maintaining to getting slower. But its widening out, so its becoming a better race." It was Gordons second pole of the season. He also qualified first last week at Watkins Glen but finished 34th, giving up the series points lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Not everyone took advantage of the favourable conditions at MIS. Earnhardt and Johnson failed to advance out of the first round of qualifying. Earnhardt was 25th and Johnson 30th. Johnson, who won at Michigan in June, has finished out of the top 10 in the last five races — and 28th or lower in four of them. "Weve just had a vibration with our car, really a shake, a violent shake through the corner," Johnson said. "Weve been trying to get to the bottom of it. We made it better, and it certainly went faster, but just not enough. Well go back to the drawing board." Carl Edwards qualified third, followed by Brian Vickers and Brad Keselowski. "Its fast — thats the simplest way to describe it," Edwards said. "I wish you guys could ride in that car with me there. That is screaming." Kyle Hendricks Cubs Jersey . 1. Lions WR Calvin Johnson (6 REC, 101 YDS, 1 TD, 10 targets) leads receivers with 1,299 yards and 12 touchdowns, though his 118.1 receiving yards per game ranks second behind Clevelands Josh Gordon. Gordon (10 REC, 261 YDS, 2 TD, 15 targets) is emerging as a superstar, putting up huge numbers even with Jason Campbell and Brandon Weeden at quarterback. Dennis Eckersley Jersey .Y. -- Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire will have less time to remain eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot under changes made Saturday. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2640t-andre-da...ersey-cubs.html. Rob Klinkhammer and Mikkel Boedker scored 63 seconds apart in the first period for the Coyotes, who handed the Kings their third straight loss and took over sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. Mike Smith made 36 saves. Greg Maddux Cubs Jersey . Infante hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and had an RBI single in a four-run fifth against former teammate Justin Verlander, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Tigers 11-8 Monday night. Danny Hultzen Cubs Jersey . "Today was a very great day for me. It was always my dream to be good in GS," Wierather said. "I took quite a long time to get there. It feels awesome to have my first win (in GS)." Wierather leads overall with 595 points from Lara Gut (568), who finished second, and Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany (535).HOYLAKE, England -- Steve Stricker has withdrawn from the British Open next week at Royal Liverpool. Its the second straight year he has decided not to play as he cuts back his schedule. Stricker was replaced in the field by Ryo Ishikawa of Japan. Stricker last year began reducing his schedule to spend more time with his family. He thought about playing The Open this year, though it looked unlikely when he added The Greenbrier Classic to his schedule and his wife caddied for him.dddddddddddd. Ishikawa won in Japan last week for his first victory since November 2012. That moved him to a No. 76 world ranking and enabled him to be the first alternate. Ross Fisher of England is next on the reserve list. ' ' '