Laughlin: Series qualifying summary

ROUND 1, 2009 SCORE DESERT SERIES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY IN LAUGHLIN, NEV.

NASCAR's Robby Gordon qualifies his No. 77 Chevy CK1500 fastest to earn pole for Saturday's first day of SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge

LAUGHLIN, Nev.--NASCAR Cup team owner/driver Robby Gordon earned the pole position for the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge Friday as he powered his No. 77 Team Gordon Chevy CK1500 to a fast time of 6 minutes, 43.72 seconds during qualifying for SCORE Trophy-Trucks averaging 64.6 miles per hour around the abbreviated 6.25-mile loop.

The season opener of the five-race 2009 SCORE Desert Series, is being held near the banks of the Colorado River in Laughlin, Nev.

The unique race, split into two parts, will start Saturday and finish Sunday, running from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the 17 classes divided into five race groups running multiple laps each day. The featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division will race at 1 p.m. each day followed by the unlimited Class 1 cars at 3 p.m. Both classes will run eight laps each day.

Gordon, who ran nine seconds faster than his 2008 Laughlin qualifying time, will lead a field of 113 official entries, which includes 22 vehicles in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division for high-tech, 800 horsepower, unlimited production trucks.

With plans to run the entire 2009 SCORE Desert Series while continuing to run his full NASCAR season, Gordon, of Charlotte, N.C., easily outdistanced the 17 SCORE Trophy-Trucks that started in the special one-lap qualifying session.

Defending SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champion B.J. Baldwin of Las Vegas was the second-fastest qualifier, covering the single lap in 6:56:41 in his No. 1 Baldwin Motorsports Chevy Silverado.

"I knew we were running fast, but this was even better than I had anticipated," said Gordon afterwards. "We are looking forward to this weekend. We have plans to run the entire 2009 SCORE Desert Series and our truck appears ready to dominate on this race course."

The five trucks that elected not to qualify, will start Saturday's portion of the race behind the other 17 SCORE Trophy-Trucks.

Ticket information is available at www.visitlaughlin.com.

-credit: score