Jeff Gordon had both good news and bad news. After being eliminated after he crossed the finish line last week at Phoenix. Gordon finished second and was in the field of four drivers for the championship race, but he was knocked out seconds later by Ryan Newman. But good news as he also won the pole for Sunday's season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

According to Gordon "It hit me hard when I crossed the line at Phoenix. I think I was just really in disbelief for a good 24 hours that we did everything so right and didn't make it. That disappointment was definitely there throughout the week. I think even if we win this race on Sunday, that's only going to make it hurt a little bit more in some ways because we could have won the championship if we were here."

Gordon has won four races this season and has been the points leader for most of the year,. He was seeking his fifth championship when he got eliminated. Now he's just trying to close out the season on a high note for his Hendrick Motorsports team.

He said "I think the way we're looking at this weekend is we want to finish this season on the best note possible. It's been a tremendous season for us. I'm disappointed we're not in this thing for the championship, but that's not going to stop us from trying to win the pole and win the race."

On the other hand, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman will compete for the title. Harvick will lead the title contenders Sunday by starting fifth. Hamlin will start eighth and Logano is in the 12th slot. Newman was the worst qualifier at 21st.

Hamlin is the defending race winner has said his car feels as good as the Toyota he drove to victory last season.

He said "Last year, I knew we were going to win the race. I knew in practice we were going to win the race and my car feels equally as good this time around."

Harvick on the other hand was confident but not as much as Hamlin. He said "I think there's just too many things, way too much to live up to, to make those kind of comments. You want to try to prepare yourself for the races as best you can. Hopefully, you make the right adjustments going into the race, and regardless of how our car is in practice, we'll all wonder if we made the right decisions."